An initial Salvation Army assessment team is on the ground in Haiti and en route to the capital city of Port Au Prince. Once there, the team will liaison with Salvation Army personnel already on site in Haiti, where the Army has ministered since 1950. As with all such relief efforts, The Salvation Army’s initial focus will be to assess the immediate needs of the people affected by the earthquake, then utilize its resources to mobilize and ship food, water and other critical necessities to where they are most needed.

The Salvation Army has 44,000 pounds of emergency rations packaged and ready to ship to Haiti. These supplies include 285,120 meals consisting of rice, soy and vitamins, plastic wrapped for disaster. One million similar meals, donated by Numana Inc., were prepared and packed last weekend by volunteers at the El Dorado Convention Center in El Dorado, Kansas to support Salvation Army relief efforts in Haiti. Locally, four tractor trailer loads of water, totaling almost 80,000 one liter bottles were dispatched from the Texas Salvation Army Disaster Warehouse last Monday. The water will be transported to Lake Charles, LA, and then be loaded and shipped by sea to Haiti.

The Salvation Army is encouraging people to donate in a new way by texting “HAITI” to 52000 on their mobile phones. The text message will automatically provide a $10 donation to disaster relief efforts in Haiti.

Donors can also give via www.salvationarmyusa.org, 1-800- SAL-ARMY and the mail at: The Salvation Army World Service Office, International Disaster Relief Fund, P.O. Box 630728, Baltimore, MD 21263-0728 with designation “Haiti Earthquake.” The most pressing need right now is for monetary donations.

The Salvation Army operates schools, clinics, a hospital, feeding programs, children’s homes and church-related activities through some 60 church/community centers across the country.

One Salvation Army facility, or compound, includes a home for more than 50 children; a school; a medical clinic and a church that on any typical Sunday welcomes nearly 1,000 people. The facility is less than 10 minutes from the National Palace.

According to reports from Salvation Army staff in Port au Prince, no one in the compound was injured during the earthquake, but the children’s home, the clinic and church suffered major damage.

The second compound that houses Salvation Army administrative offices is being used as an emergency operations center; damage was slight to this compound.