Tour of Hope
On March 28th, Salvation Army volunteers, staff, and donors gathered at the Emergency Disaster Services (EDS) training center on the west side of Indianapolis to learn about the good that our Emergency Disaster team does in the community and beyond.
The Salvation Army EDS serves members of the Indiana community and throughout the country in times of great need. When natural disaster strikes around the country, the EDS team is there to offer physical, emotional, and spiritual support to those affected. This often includes providing food and water, shelters to stay overnight, and even comfort animals to bring joy to families in times of distress. The EDS volunteer team also brings along one of our mobile feeding units, or “canteens,” where they can serve thousands of meals to those who are unable to get to an official shelter.
During the Tour of Hope, guests were served a dinner of chili, cornbread, salad, and a brownie for dessert, similar to a meal that would be served at one of our disaster services sites. The evening was intended to include our local canteen, where guests would receive their food. However, the Indianapolis EDS team was sent with the canteen to help victims of the historic flooding in Omaha, NE, shortly before the event took place. After receiving their meal, guests listened to a presentation from Rush Yelverton, a longtime EDS volunteer. Rush presented on the history and current role of EDS in the community and its role in the overall mission of The Salvation Army.
After the presentation ended, guests helped with a special project that had been very recently brought to The Salvation Army. A team of U.S. soldiers have been recently deployed to the Middle East from Northwest Indiana, and The Salvation Army was asked to send care packages to the troops. In an assembly line fashion, Salvation Army staff and guests put together 200 care packages filled with candy and small snacks, gum, puzzle books, and prayer cards to send overseas to our local troops.