ALPHARETTA, Ga. (BP)–Southern Baptist Disaster Relief volunteers continue as the major supplier of hot meals to the American Red Cross for distribution to search and rescue workers and others in New York City and Washington, D.C.
Volunteer chaplains and pastoral counselors also are at work alongside other Disaster Relief units and in a variety of other locations.
Following is the latest information regarding Southern Baptists’ response as of 9 a.m., Sept.26:
Meals prepared: 197,506
Volunteers on site yesterday: 244
Locations and units activated:
— Pentagon parking lot, Washington, D.C. North Carolina mobile kitchen.
— New York Naval Shipyard, Brooklyn. Mobile kitchens from New York and Virginia. Mobile shower unit from North Carolina.
— United Parcel Service terminal, Manhattan. Mobile kitchen and shower unit from Tennessee.
— Floyd Bennett Airport, Brooklyn. A mobile kitchen from Kentucky and shower unit from North Carolina have relocated from a city-owned warehouse in Brooklyn.
— Raritan Baptist Church, Edison, N.J. Staging area for all incoming volunteers.
— Chaplains are assigned at various locations in New York, including the Comfort Center for family members of victims and the morgue adjacent to the World Trade Center site. Two teams are currently finishing out their service, but city officials have decided to work only with New York clergy. A longer-term strategy for counseling and pastoral care is being developed that focuses on local churches.
— Donors from 38 states and Canada have given more than $184,000 for the disaster relief effort, much of which has come from donations online at www.namb.net/dr. One hundred percent of those gifts will be used for disaster relief in the field, not for administration. Checks designated for Disaster Relief also may also be sent to NAMB by mail to P.O. Box 116543, Atlanta, GA 30368-6543. Phone inquiries may be directed to 1-888-440-6262.
The Southern Baptist Disaster Relief network, which includes more than 20,000 trained volunteers, is coordinated nationally by the North American Mission Board in cooperation with state Southern Baptist conventions. For more information and updates, visit www.namb.net/dr.
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(BP) photos posted in the BP Photo Library at http://www.bpnews.net. Photo titles: IMPACT SITE, MONITORING THE COOKING POTS, and VISIT.
