14
The War Cry | AUGUST 2015
thousands of evacuees on their
doorstep in need of food and basic
supplies (see sidebar on page 24).
An abandoned motel directly across
the highway became the staging
area for some 40 Salvation Army
canteens to serve hot meals and
supplies for the next few months.
Army employee Arnold McDuffie
knew his city was in trouble when
he ventured out the day after to
survey the damage. Driving a
white van with a huge Salvation
Army red shield on it made Arnold
a marked man. "They came at me
from every direction!" he says.
The saddest thing he witnessed
during those weeks was a family
who had walked all the way to
Baton Rouge from the Lower Ninth
Ward in New Orleans: a distance of
just under 100 miles. "I was driv-
ing a canteen back to Baton Rouge
after a day out in the field, and
there they were--this grandmother
and several kids walking to Baton
Rouge. My heart broke for them
and I gave them a ride to our
shelter."
Back in New Orleans, the Adult
Rehabilitation Center (ARC) on Jef-
ferson Highway was severely dam-
aged by flooding. All of the residents
had evacuated to other ARCs across
the South, and with most of the city
population gone for months and even
years (as of today, only 80% have re-
turned), there was no one to donate
clothes and furniture for the men to
process and sell.
"Majors Dan and Lynda Delaney
were the ARC administrators when
Katrina hit," says Major Charles
Stewart, who with his wife Major
Donna Stewart oversees the restored
On this spot, the Biloxi Corps once
stood. Only a damaged Christmas kettle
stand could vouch for the property's
identity.
The Kroc Center today.
KATRINA +
SPECIAL
REPORT:
LITTLETON, CO � Officers counseled families and
students waiting to find out whether or not their children
were injured after the shooting at Columbine High School.
Volunteers, officers and advisory board members served
thousands of meals to law enforcement, emergency per-
sonnel, students and their families in the first two days.
NC, SC, NJ, DE � The Army operated several emer-
gency shelters, 40 emergency mobile kitchens, and
response units; it served over 20,000 meals a day
throughout the 22 counties affected by Hurricane Floyd.
2000
POINT MUGU, CA � Person-
nel assisted relatives, friends
and rescue workers at several
locations in the aftermath of
the crash of Alaska Airlines
Flight 261.
FORT WORTH, TX
� Salvationists at two facilities
fed and sheltered 275 displaced residents and distributed
cleaning kits after tornadoes swept across the area. Six
mobile canteens distributed food to emergency workers
and residents.
KANSAS � The Army provided food
boxes, diapers, paper goods and cleaning supplies and
served meals to rescue workers after storms left hundreds
homeless.
MISSOULA, MT � Canteens offering food for
firefighters, National Guardsmen and residents became
mobile food banks and assistance offices for fire
victims during rebuilding after the massive forest fires.
2001
SAN DIEGO, CA � Officers
provided on-site counseling
after the shootings at Santee
and Granite Hills High Schools.
HOUSTON, TX � Seven
shelters opened for evacuees
following tropical storm Allison
and four canteens served meals at M.D. Anderson
Medical Center after the power went out.
NY, PA,
DC � "Our first thoughts and prayers must be for those
thousands of families bereaved by the devastation [from
9/11] and the thousands more who have been damaged
physically and emotionally by these unthinkable acts of
violence," said General John Gowans. The Army served
side by side with rescue workers and conducted
extensive long-term casework for families of victims.
QUEENS, NY � Within minutes of the
crash of American Airlines Flight 587, the
Army deployed emergency feeding canteens,
volunteers and trained grief counselors.
2002
SAPULPA, OK � Mobile feed-
ings units deployed to the site of
the I-40 bridge collapse to serve
hot meals and drinks to rescue
workers and victims while offi-
cers provided pastoral care
and emotional comfort.
VIRGINIA � The Army opened
a shelter for individuals and
families forced to leave
their homes due to heavy rain. Thousands of cleanup
kits, hot meal, water and other supplies were distributed.
DENVER, CO � Some 200 meals were served to emer-
gency personnel following the Black Mountain wildfires.
DALLAS, TX � Mobile feeding units provided
meals to the hardest hit neighborhoods where heavy rain
completely washed away many houses .
QUECREEK, PA � The Army was on the scene of the
mine cave-in, providing meals and spiritual and emotional
support.
FLORIDA GULF COAST � Personnel and
disaster units throughout Alabama, Louisiana and
Mississippi responded to the damage and flooding
caused by Tropical Storm Isadore and Hurricane Lili by
providing meals, shelter, clean drinking water,
counseling and cleaning supplies to residents
who returned to begin cleanup and recovery.
Snapshot:
25 Years of EDS
continued from pg 12
continued on pg 16
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