The Salvation Army USA National Fact Sheet -Oklahoma Tornadoes
May 21, 2013
Updates
The Salvation Army's Emergency Disaster Services (EDS) is providing food, beverage, and spiritual support to survivors and first responders following the severe tornado activity in Moore, OK and surrounding impacted areas on May 20.
· The Salvation Army is on the ground in Moore, OK, with multiple disaster response units (canteens) and personnel coordinating with Local and State Emergency Management to serve first responders and those affected by the tornado.
· Canteens involved in the response from Oklahoma include:
o Central Oklahoma Area Command (Oklahoma City)
o Ardmore
o Enid
o Lawton
o McAlester
o Muskogee
· Disaster response teams from Pine Bluff, Jonesboro, and Hot Springs, Arkansas are en route to the Oklahoma City metropolitan area to assist in response.
· Personnel from across the Arkansas and Oklahoma Division are also traveling to the area to form a Divisional Incident Command Team, which helps coordinate the overall response for The Salvation Army.
· The Salvation Army is continuing to provide service to hard-hit areas from Monday's and the weekend's storms, which include:
o In Pottawatomie County: The McAlester, OK and Shawnee, OK disaster response teams served multiple locations in the Shawnee area, including devastated neighborhoods and rural areas throughout the night and day.
o In Lincoln County: The Enid, OK canteen provided breakfast, lunch & dinner to the Carney, OK area throughout the early morning hours and all day yesterday.
o In Cleveland County: The Central Oklahoma Area Command Disaster Service Unit responded to the Little Axe area with breakfast, lunch & dinner yesterday. The Salvation Army was responding, even as one of our Salvation Army family member's home was destroyed.
Monetary donations are the most critical need as supplies and personnel are mobilized.
· Donors are encouraged to give online at www.SalvationArmyUSA.org or by calling 1-800-SAL-ARMY (1-800-725-2769).
· You can also text the word "STORM" to 80888 to make a $10 donation through your mobile phone; to confirm your gift, respond with the word "Yes."*
· Donations in the form of checks designated to Oklahoma Tornado Relief may also be mailed to:
o The Salvation Army
PO Box 2536
Oklahoma City, OK 73102
Your donations make a real difference.
· A $10 donation feeds a disaster survivor for one day.
· A $30 donation provides one food box, containing staple foods for a family of four, or one household cleanup kit, containing brooms, mops, buckets and other cleaning supplies
· A $100 donation can serve snacks and drinks for 125 survivors and emergency personnel at the scene of a disaster
· A $250 donation can provide one hot meal to 100 people or keep a hydration station operational for 24 hours
· A $500 donation keeps a Salvation Army canteen (mobile feeding unit) fully operational for one day
Salvation Army Statements
Major Steve Morris, Arkansas-Oklahoma Divisional Commander
· "The devastation is far reaching in both human life, property and livestock loss. The Salvation Army is honored to serve and provide sustenance to first responders involved in search and rescue, coordination efforts and more. And, of course, all survivors will be provided spiritual and emotional care to help them through this tragic time."
· "The Salvation Army is calling on everyone to pray for all of those impacted by the devastating tornadoes in Oklahoma."
· "Many of these impacted communities will take months or even years to recover. The Salvation Army is committed to being there with them throughout and providing aid wherever it's needed."
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THE SALVATION ARMY EXPANDS FOOD PANTRY
New upgrades allow for more choices
There has always been a food pantry available to those in need at The Salvation Army's Lied Renaissance Center at 3612 Cuming Street, but this year, it's getting a much needed makeover. In attempts to match The Salvation Army's Kroc Center's Consumer Choice pantry success, The Army has transformed what used to be a small, typical food pantry into something with more "choice." With more space for product and making it easier to navigate, it allows for more people to be helped in a much more convenient way.
The Consumer Choice pantry model allows food pantry recipients the liberty to make their own food choices. Consumer Choice also ensures that recipients with special dietary needs, such as diabetes, find more appropriate choices.
This model also provides incentive for healthier eating. Through a points system, consumers, based on their household size, are able to "purchase" food. With healthier foods costing fewer points, proper dietary choices are better maintained. This gives more freedom of choice as opposed to regular food pantries that provide a preset quantity of already chosen food.
The Consumer Choice program not only helps adults, but local children as well. With more than 16 million American children in food insecure homes, having access to this program not only addresses the issues of childhood hunger and obesity, but also has positive effects on their adulthood, including health and economic self-efficiency. The Salvation Army hopes that with this new system in place, it can help reduce hunger among Omaha's less fortunate. Last year, 27,646 individuals were provided with food and material assistance.
Donations of non-perishable foods are needed to stock the shelves of the food pantry. Donations can be brought to the Lied Renaissance Center, 3612 Cuming Street, or dropped off at your neighborhood Omaha Fire Station.
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The Salvation Army Lied Renaissance Center
Omaha, Nebraska
The Salvation Army in Omaha, Nebraska has an established history of providing high quality comprehensive care to people needing assistance in the Omaha area. The Salvation Army operates a multi-service campus located at 3612 Cuming Street, providing a variety of services to individuals and families across all life stages and circumstances. This facility is unique in the nation in terms of the variety of diverse programming offered on-site: including child and youth care, material assistance, case management and community outreach, senior services and spiritual care if requested. The Lied Renaissance Center campus is a micro-community with more than 200 people living on the campus on any given day. Such an array of residential care and services provide unparalled access within a holistic, integrated, and caring community environment. Below are some of the faces that have travelled through one of our programs.
The Salvation Army is the largest social service agency in the metropolitan area. It encompasses more than 20 programs that provide low-income people with food, shelter, clothing, disaster relief and counseling. The Salvation Army has served the state of Nebraska since 1888 and the city of Omaha since 1897.
About The Salvation Army:
The Salvation Army, an evangelical part of the universal Christian church established in 1865, has been supporting those in need in His name without discrimination for more than 130 years in the United States. Nearly 30 million Americans receive assistance from The Salvation Army each year through the broadest array of social services that range from providing food for the hungry, relief for disaster victims, assistance for the disabled, outreach to the elderly and ill, clothing and shelter to the homeless and opportunities for underprivileged children. 82 cents of every dollar spent is used to support those services in 5,000 communities nationwide. For more information, go to www.salvationarmyusa.org.