Salvation Army support continues to serve fire evacuees, emergency staff & volunteers, vowing to remain until everyone returns safely home. Now over 10,000 meals have been served.

    VANCOUVER, Aug. 4 /CNW/ - Salvation Army Emergency Disaster Services
workers and volunteers operating in the BC interior have now served well over
10,000 meals. We continue our necessary work at emergency reception centres in
Kelowna and Kamloops, providing food, water, energy bars, and other
necessities such as toothbrushes and deodorant, as well as counsel for
frustrated evacuees and aspirin for firefighters.
    Since early July when fires first forced people to evacuate their homes,
The Salvation Army has been on the scene supporting tired firefighters and
other emergency workers, and evacuees. When The Salvation Army's volunteers in
Kelowna were overwhelmed by the need, more reinforcements and emergency
response vehicles were sent in from other parts of the province.
    "As soon as we knew that one mobile canteen wasn't enough to prepare the
thousands of meals needed to accommodate those arriving, we started pulling in
other teams with mobile canteens from the lower mainland to help us up here,"
says Major Gord Armstrong, who has coordinated The Salvation Army's relief
efforts throughout the province this summer.
    Many other organizations have stepped in to help with volunteers and
resources. Many other concerned people from across Canada have offered
financial support and we are grateful. To find out more or to continue to help
your fellow Canadians in need:Donate online, at: www.salvationarmy.ca/bcfires
    Or by phone: 1-800-SAL-ARMY

    More info on The Salvation Army's Emergency Disaster Services (EDS):

    -   The Salvation Army EDS has a fleet of 11 mobile canteens and hundreds
        of trained volunteers positioned throughout BC.
    -   Each mobile canteen is equipped to serve thousands of hot meals daily
        to victims of disasters and tired emergency workers.
    -   The Salvation Army EDS in Canada provided vital support after the
        9/11 terrorist attacks, after the disastrous Hurricane Katrina, and
        during the devastating Kelowna Fires of 2003.
    -   Every day The Salvation Army EDS responds to local emergencies. The
        Salvation Army began in Canada in 1882, and is the largest
        non-governmental direct provider of social services, serving
        1.5 million people each year, in over 400 communities.

For further information: Jonathan Michel, Public Relations, The
Salvation Army BC Division, [e-mail], (604)
296-3819, c. [phone]; Brian Venables, Director of Public Relations &
Development, The Salvation Army BC Division,
[e-mail], [phone], c. [phone]