PRESS RELEASE
UPDATE: The Salvation Army
Continues Fighting Fargo Flood
More than 24,000 served since Friday
March 24, 2009 – Since Friday, The Salvation Army has provided food, hydration, and emotional/spiritual care to more than 24,000 people in the Fargo/Moorhead area as they defend the community against an imminent flood that could cause mass devastation. (Click here for photos.)
Sixty-four Salvation Army staff and volunteers have served more than 10,400 meals, 23,000 snacks and 22,000 drinks to thousands of volunteers as they fill sand bags and build levees to ward off Red River flood waters expected to crest at 40 feet on Thursday. That is 22 feet above flood stage, and slightly higher than the historic Fargo flood of 1997.
Five mobile feeding units (canteens) deployed from Bismarck, Brainerd, Fergus Falls, the Twin Cities and Willmar are roving neighborhood streets. Another canteen is fixed at Fargo’s garbage utility – or “Sandbag Central” – where legions of volunteers are filling an estimated 25,000 sandbags per hour.
“The Salvation Army’s operation is vital to supporting the people who are fighting to save our community,” said Captain Adam Moore, administrator of the Fargo Salvation Army. “This is a race against time. The propensity for great property loss is more and more evident with each foot the river rises.”
To date, The Salvation Army has spent more than $20,000 on this effort. To donate, call 800-SAL-ARMY or click the button below.
