Salvation Army Procures Food and Building Material for Hurricane Victims

The Salvation Army has procured food, construction material and other relief items, which will be distributed to the parishes hardest hit by Hurricane Dean.
Head of the Salvation Army in Jamaica, Major Ward Matthews, made the announcement at a press briefing held at the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management’s (ODPEM) Camp Road headquarters on Friday (Aug. 24).
He said that the food, which was shipped from the organization’s United States-based warehouses that day, was enough to feed 10,000 persons.
He informed that some relief supplies have also come from survivors of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans “who earnestly want to give back to those who support their relief effort there.” These include 25 palettes of roofing and construction materials and necessities like diapers and food.
The Salvation Army, he said, is also working with the United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance in providing bedding supplies.
In the meantime, Major Matthews informed that further assistance has been offered from the Salvation Army’s international headquarters in London, “and we have even received gifts for relief from as far away as Australia.”
He said that the relief effort was being spearheaded by the Salvation Army’s East Jamaica Division and Advisory Board.