Posts

Tesa Doing Her Part to Help the Community and The Salvation Army

/in /by

Tesa heard that The Salvation Army needed help passing out meals in her community. With no hesitation, she jumped in the car with a neighbor and headed out to volunteer. Tesa is only 10 years old and is in the 5th grade.

It’s been a rough couple of years for Tesa and her family. During Hurricane Zeta, in October 2020, their home was hit by a tornado and her bedroom was destroyed. “Due to the Covid pandemic and construction delays, it was really difficult to schedule repairs to our house,” said Theresa Delatte, Tesa’s mom. “She finally got to move back into her bedroom in July this year only now to be hit by Hurricane Ida. The storm damaged our new metal roof, and the rain poured into Tesa’s room. Her ceiling fell in, and her belongings are ruined.”

Even with all that is going on in her life, and the heartache of losing her room for a second time, Tesa was out working in the neighborhood right after the storm passed. “She’s been busy helping clean up by picking up shingles, trash, tree branches and doing all she can to help anyone in need,” said Theresa. “We’re so proud of her.”

The mobile feeding unit from Muskogee, OK, was set up at the Walgreens in Cut Off, LA. “Tesa and Theresa volunteered with us for two days, serving hot food to her neighbors and community, many of whom remain without power,” said Wayde Normandin, Volunteer & Disaster Resource Manager from Tulsa, and EDS team member this week. “Tesa is an incredible young lady. She worked non-stop in the heat and was excited to pass out meals to the cars as they came through the drive-through line. She can be a part of our crew anytime!”

The family worked to put tarps up on their roof on Monday with more rain in the forecast but have plans to get back out to volunteer with The Salvation Army on Tuesday. “Tesa made the comment last night, when she gets older, she wants to be someone like y’all that helps people in bad times. Even if she just makes one person’s day better it will be worth it,” said Theresa. “Gotta love the big heart my little girl has!”

Neighbors Helping Neighbors in Louisiana

/in /by

Staff and volunteers deployed to the Texas Incident Command Post in Gonzales, LA, are providing practical, and emotional and spiritual support to their neighbors in Louisiana after Hurricane Ida. A fleet of mobile units, consisting of 11 Texas units and 7 from Arkansas Oklahoma, are delivering hot meals, water, and MREs into impacted communities.

“We are expanding our reach and meal service from the Gonzales Command Post and continue to discover communities in need and struggling without power after Hurricane Ida,” said Alvin Migues, Emergency Disaster Services Director from The Salvation Army, Texas Division. “Our team is returning each day with wonderful stories of resilience from storm survivors and how communities are coming together to support each other through this disaster. The Salvation Army is privileged to play a part in this recovery, and the hot meals served from our units have been greatly appreciated.”

The mobile unit from Lewisville visited Albany, LA, on Thursday, serving lunch from a church parking lot. Cars quickly filed in, and a line of people formed, anxious to receive a hot meal. Edie and Nicole have been neighbors for about six months and drove to the church together to conserve gas. “We’ve been looking out for each other since the storm came through,” said Edie. “We lost power but were pretty lucky that we didn’t have too much damage. There’s some trees and power lines down on our street but we’re doing ok considering.”

The Lewisville unit served 750 hamburgers, with beans, and chips, and distributed MREs and water in Albany. “We heard that The Salvation Army was serving food down here,” said Nicole. “We’ve got a generator so have some power, but all our food spoiled so quickly. You all are such a blessing, and we appreciate you being out here.” The Mayor of Albany also paid a visit to the feeding site to personally thank The Salvation Army volunteers for their service to the community.

Teams continue to reach into some of the hardest hit communities, particularly in the southern area of the state, with large areas of the state without power. The mobile units from the Gonzales IMT have served 37,003 meals, 26,599 drinks, and 10,914 snacks. Emotional and spiritual care is an integral part of Salvation Army disaster service and staff and volunteers have prayed with 2,348 people.

Service continues in the following communities on Friday, September 3: Hammond (2 units), Houma (3 units), Raceland, Livingston Parrish, La Place, Bayou Dularge, Bayou Blue, Cut Off, Larose, Napoloenville (2 units), Chauvin, and Sorrento.

Grateful Communities Receive Meals from The Salvation Army

/in /by

Salvation Army mobile kitchens from Texas deployed into impacted areas of Louisiana on Tuesday, delivering close to 9,000 meals to individuals and families struggling after Hurricane Ida. Many communities remain without power, with storm debris and isolated flooding causing additional challenges.

The Incident Command Post in Gonzales, LA, was fully functional early on Tuesday morning, and the ongoing collaboration with the Southern Baptist Convention Texas Field Kitchen saw food being prepared and loaded onto waiting Salvation Army mobile units by mid-morning. Units each received their assignments, driving for the first time into communities in the southern region of the state with several traveling more than an hour to specified locations.

“The first day of disaster operations is always something of a challenge,” said Alvin Migues, Emergency Disaster Services Director for The Salvation Army in Texas. “There are so many moving parts to an operation of this scale and there remains a number of significant unknowns. We have crews driving on roads that may be flooded in places, blocked with trees and down power lines, and pulling into communities for the first time. As well as service delivery we continue on something of a fact-finding mission. I am so proud of our Salvation Army staff and volunteers who have worked around the clock to get this command post operational and are already delivering practical assistance to those in need.”

Close to 9,000 meals were served on Tuesday, in more than 10 cities. In several locations, the arrival of The Salvation Army mobile units was met with long lines of traffic with residents eager to receive their first hot meal since Hurricane Ida moved through Louisiana, leaving so many without power. “God bless you for being here and helping us,” said a grateful resident of Hammond, LA, who had patiently waited in the drive through line to receive 5 meals for their family. “We heard The Salvation Army would be coming today and you all are a real blessing. Thank you!”

On Wednesday, mobile units will be serving in Hammond (2 units), Houma (2 units), Thibodaux (2 units), Kenner (2 units), Livingston Parrish (2 units), Baton Rouge, La Place, Napoleonville (2 units), Gonzales, and two units will be roaming in affected communities.

Seven additional units arrived at the Incident Command Post from the Oklahoma Arkansas Division on Tuesday evening and will further expand the reach and capacity of assistance in the coming days. Salvation Army operations are also in place in other impacted areas of the state including New Orleans and the Gulfport region.

“We anticipate ramping up service to close to 20,000 meals a day. Our team continues to assess the specific needs of communities impacted by Hurricane Ida,” said Migues. “We’re off to a tremendous start and our staff and dedicated volunteers are focused and prepared to deliver meals, water, and a word of encouragement and a prayer to those we encounter.”