PRESS RELEASE
Minot Salvation Army in Service Overdrive
Needed: Double the volunteers, thousands in donations
MINOT, N.D. – July 26, 2011 – The Salvation Army needs hundreds more volunteers and thousands in monetary donations to keep up with a recent explosion in local demand for mobile food services and direct assistance.
The volunteers are needed because The Salvation Army is now the only agency in Minot providing mobile food services during flood cleanup. About 50 volunteers per day – double the previous number – are needed to distribute food from six mobile kitchens roving the city and surrounding communities.
Salvation Army staffer Brian Skaar underscored the importance of serving food to flood survivors: “When I was visiting with a young man on a cleanup crew, he looked me straight in the eye and told me, ‘Thank you. You guys save our lives out here.’”
The monetary donations are needed to cover daily food costs that have skyrocketed to about $12,000, and to provide direct assistance – food, gas, building supplies, more – for more than 120 flood survivors per day. The need for direct assistance has grown so large that Salvation Army case managers are working from inside the Baptist church next door, which graciously offered four classrooms and a large waiting room. In addition, hours have been expanded to seven days a week.
“Two weeks ago The Salvation Army designated $500,000 for Minot flood relief, but that money is drying up fast,” said Major Donald Kincaid, Minot Salvation Army administrator. “In order to continue serving, we need more money. Donations not only help flood survivors get their lives back on track, they help Minot businesses because the money is pumped right back into the local economy. Every dollar we receive is put to good use the day we receive it.”
Donations to The Salvation Army also pay for mental health counseling. In response to the growing threats of suicide, violence and depression in Minot, The Salvation Army has hired the Green Cross Academy of Traumatology to deploy counselors to the area.
To date, the Minot Salvation Army has spent more than 7,000 hours serving about 20,000 meals, 27,000 snacks and 48,000 beverages.
To volunteer in Minot visit www.thesalarmy.org/minot, or call
701-838-8925.
Monetary donations can be made in the following ways:
• Donate $10 by texting “MINOT” to 80888 and replying “yes” to the confirmation text. A one-time donation of $10 will be added to your cell phone bill. For terms, see www.igfn.org/t.
• Donate online below or by calling 800-SAL-ARMY (725-2769) or by mailing a check to The Salvation Army, 315 Western Ave., Minot, ND 58701. Be sure to designate your donation “Minot Flood.”
Financial assistance for food, gas, clothing and other necessities is currently available for qualifying households displaced by the flood. To learn more, call 701-838-8925.
