Katrina: ACS Disaster Response Volunteers Are Ready for Action

[Stan]

August 30, 2005

CONTACT: Jerrica Thurman, Communication Coordinator, North American

Division Adventist Community Services, 12501 Old Columbia Pike, Silver

Spring, MD 20904, 301-680-6438, []Jerrica.Thurman@nad.adventist.org[/],

www.communityservices.org

Hurricane Katrina: ACS Disaster Response Volunteers Are Ready for Action

In Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, ACS Disaster Response teams are

setting up to provide immediate relief to people devastated by Hurricane

Katrina.

As New Orleans rescue teams work to retrieve those who are trapped on

rooftops because their homes are flooded, ACS Disaster Response

volunteers have mobilized to provide the survivors with needed supplies.

After medical evaluation, those who've been rescued receive blankets,

new clothing and personal kits, including toiletries from ACS Disaster

Response volunteers before they are transported to nearby shelters. The

volunteers are distributing supplies that are prepackaged and stored in

large truck units that supply nearly 1,700 people, which the workers

continually restock.

"We are working with Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to set

up a multi-agency warehouse nearby the devastated areas in Louisiana,"

said Lavida Whitson, Adventist Community Services Director for

Arkansas-Louisiana Conference. "The multi-agency warehouse will be

managed by ACS Disaster Response and used to supply state designated

distribution sites. Our warehouse operation is where volunteers sort and

package donated goods, pull orders and load trucks for delivery to the

affected areas," stated Whitson.

It's been reported that at least fifteen Adventist churches in New

Orleans and surrounding areas are under water but no Adventist families

have suffered casualties.

In response to the damage caused by the hurricane at Bass Memorial

Academy in Lumberton, Mississippi, Florida ACS Disaster Response teams

are transporting three generators to provide power to the academy's

campus. The volunteers are also providing food to the local community

and volunteers from two feeding units that can each produce 20,000 meals

a day.

"We are aiming to have all of our equipment delivered by this Friday so

we can accommodate volunteers to assist with rebuilding the academy's

campus," said David Canther, Adventist Community Services Director of

Florida Conference who is working with David Miller, Adventist Community

Services Director of Gulf States Conference.

In Alabama, ACS Disaster Response leaders are working with the state

Emergency Operating Center (EOC) to conduct assessments of the damages,

determine immediate needs and strategize donation distribution methods.

State officials are working to determine the full scale of the damages

and thus have not yet identified specific items to donate. However,

"monetary contributions allow responding organizations to purchase

exactly what is most urgently needed by hurricane survivors - and to pay

for the transportation necessary to distribute the supplies," reports

Disaster News Network.

"By purchasing items nearer to the disaster site, it helps to build the

economies of the local areas," said Joe Watts, National Coordinator of

ACS Disaster Response. "The greatest help that anyone can provide is

financial contributions," explained Watts.

To join ACS Disaster Response in helping the survivors of Hurricane

Katrina, please make a donation online by visiting

www.communityservices.org, calling 1-877-ACS-2702 or mail to: NAD ACS

Disaster Response, 12501 Old Columbia Pike, Silver Spring, MD 20904.

For more than 100 years, the Seventh-day Adventist Church has provided

emergency relief through Adventist Community Services Disaster Response.

Working in more than 200 cities across North America, ACS Disaster

Response operates in partnership with the Federal Emergency Management

Agency (FEMA) and is a member of National Voluntary Organizations Active

in Disasters. For more information, visit www.communityservices.org