On-Guard By The Case
Learn more about our work with Emergency & Disaster.
More than 100 years ago a devastating hurricane made landfall in Galveston, Texas, leveling the entire city and killing more than 5,000 people. Only days after the storm hit, Salvation Army officers from across the country arrived in Texas to provide relief to survivors in the form of food, shelter, and emotional and spiritual care. Since that storm, The Salvation Army has remained on-guard, ready to respond to similar disaster here at home and around the world.
In the Kansas and Western Missouri Division, that focus is always fixated on our local communities. We’re no stranger to helping families recover after any kind of disaster, including two of the most prevalent in the Midwest: tornadoes and floods.
When the Missouri River began overflowing its banks in northwestern Missouri and northeastern Kansas, the call went out for help immediately. EDS crews were on the scene helping people evacuate before the flooding began and providing food and water at shelters around the area. The need for water was so immediate and great, the EDS crew delivered several palettes of bottled water as the flooding worsened.
However, that left the EDS Warehouse short on water for further disaster relief and for helping other people in need. So, the call went out across Kansas City, asking people to donate cases of water at The Salvation Army Warehouse and community centers around the metro area.
Residents responded, donating hundreds of cases of water, many of which were delivered to communities dealing with the flooding. The rest are waiting in the EDS Warehouse for distribution as necessary.
One local company stepped up to hold its own bottled water drive. The Employee Action Group at PAE saw the need and answered the call immediately.
“As a company we like to give back to our communities around us. We knew that people would need water to drink we just decided to jump in,” Kris Davis of PAE said.
Jump in they did, delivering 47 cases of water, nearly enough to fill two palettes in the warehouse by themselves. Water that will help a family survive and recover. It’s a donation that leaves Davis proud of the work she and her colleagues accomplished.
“I’m very pleased. Everybody decided all at once to join in,” she said.
The employees at PAE are no strangers to assisting people in need. Just two years ago, they donated following the tornadoes in Oak Grove and Odessa, Missouri. Of course, The Salvation Army was there, too, helping people pick up the pieces.
The promise to remain on-guard and to do the most good in any situation is part of the Emergency Disaster Services daily work. From flood waters to tornadoes, no matter when and where disaster strikes, The Salvation Army will be ready to help people recover.
You can help people recover and thrive after a disaster by supporting The Salvation Army EDS. Just click here to make your donation today.
(Photo caption: Kris, Amber and Cody from PAE stand with Major David Harvey behind the cases of water they delivered to The Salvation Army EDS Warehouse.)