• Philip Burn

Delivering Help and Hope to Texas Wildfire Survivors

Austin, TX (September 22, 2011) – A truck loaded with items from The Salvation Army Central Texas Wildfire Relief Center in Austin will travel to Bastrop on Thursday, in an effort to deliver assistance to those individuals that need it most in the aftermath of the recent wildfires.

Beginning at 9:00 AM, Thursday, September 22, The Salvation Army will set up a distribution center, accompanied by a Salvation Army feeding unit, in the parking lot of the Walmart Supercenter located at 488 Highway 71 W, in Bastrop. Salvation Army personnel, including volunteers from the Bastrop Salvation Army Service Unit location, will be available to assist wildfire survivors by providing basic necessities such as toiletries, baby items, cleaning supplies, paper products, canned goods, water, pillows and towels. Proof of residence is required. The new mobile distribution center will be open Monday-Saturday, 9:00 AM-4:00 PM, beginning Thursday morning.

As of Thursday, assistance will no longer be provided from the location at 12317 Technology Blvd, Austin, because The Salvation Army understands the difficulty and challenges wildfire survivors may have in reaching Austin for assistance.

Items at the new mobile distribution center will be restocked regularly, and The Salvation Army is in communication with other agencies in Bastrop to help support recovery efforts that are already underway in the community.

The Salvation Army is no longer accepting in-kind donations but monetary contributions are requested to support the Central Texas Wildfire Relief. Financial contributions can be made by:

·         MAIL – please send checks to The Salvation Army, PO Box 36607, Dallas,                   TX 75235

·         PHONE at 1-800-SAL-ARMY

·         ONLINE at www.salvationarmytexas.org

For more information about The Salvation Army’s disaster response effort, please go to www.facebook.com/salvationarmytexas, www.disaster.salvationarmyusa.org, or www.salvationarmytexas.org.

About The Salvation Army

The Salvation Army, an evangelical part of the universal Christian church established in 1865, has been supporting those in need in His name without discrimination for 130 years in the United States. Nearly 30 million Americans receive assistance from The Salvation Army each year through the broadest array of social services that range from providing food for the hungry, relief for disaster victims, assistance for the disabled, outreach to the elderly and ill, clothing and shelter to the homeless and opportunities for underprivileged children. 82 cents of every dollar spent is used to carry out those services in 5,000 communities nationwide. For more information, go to www.salvationarmyusa.org.