In the initial days after the Joplin tornado, The Salvation Army fed up to 10,000 people each day, distributed nearly half a million clothing items, provided clean drinking water to those in need, and ministered to victims and survivors amongst the rubble of their homes and businesses.
The success of those first days were in large part due to strategic partnerships with organizations that provided supplies to The Salvation Army that could be distributed or put to immediate good.
“When the storm first hit, The Salvation Army was the very first organization to step up and reach out to us to partner in this effort,” said Shane Dickerson, Market Manager for Sam’s Club of Missouri and Kansas on Tuesday. “Their very first request was for gloves, and we cleaned out every glove we could find from our existing stock.”
Dickerson lived in Joplin for three weeks after the storm and worked to create a distribution chain for the supplies of Walmart and Sam’s Club stores. In those first days, his groups provided water, gatorade, gloves, dust masks, diapers and more to The Salvation Army.
The partnership with Sam’s Club led to The Salvation Army being a key distribution partner for Walmart stores during the relief response. “Ever since the first tornado struck a Walmart store in Marion, Indiana, we decided we’d always be ready to respond, to send in clean water, to help how we can,” said Don Soderquist, retired Chief Operating Officer and Senior Vice Chairman of Wal-Mart, Inc. at a restoration celebration held at Sam’s Club. “Remember to thank The Salvation Army for their work here in Joplin. They’re always there.”
At the Sam’s Club commemoration event at Walmart, Lieutenant James Curry addressed the crowd, “We appreciate Sam’s Clubs across America. We partner with organizations that have the same values – stepping in and going right to it in times of disaster…. With Sam’s Club, we couldn’t have fed 10,000 people a day for the first few months here in Joplin.”
Organizations such as Express Scripts and Conway Trucking and countless others stepped up in the days after the storm, to gather and send food items, clothing items, clean water and more for The Salvation Army to distribute to those in need.
At the event, Lieutenant Curry summed up the power of partnership simply, “Without you and our volunteers, we are just a miniscule army. With your partnership, we are able to do more and to do it better.”