• Christopher Priest

The Salvation Army: Striving to Meet Growing Need During Pandemic

Atlanta, GA: The COVID-19 pandemic endures across the world, with millions impacted in various ways. With that in mind, The Salvation Army’s work persists, with the USA Southern Territory striving to meet growing need through a number of initiatives.

Teams of officers and employees from The Salvation Army National Capital Area Command recently sorted and packed food boxes for distribution across Washington, DC and its surrounding area. The distribution of approximately 10,000 pounds of non-perishable food is in process to families and individuals experiencing financial difficulty and other challenges due to COVID-19. Over a five-week span, The Salvation Army and its partners in the region have provided enough food to feed nearly 10,000 individuals.

In Washington, North Carolina, a hot lunch feeding program that began in July 2019 led indirectly to the capacity for The Salvation Army to serve during the COVID-19 outbreak. With an already established partnership for summer-based feeding, meals are prepared by the county school system and provided to The Salvation Army for distribution. Approximately 4,000 hot meals have already been served to school-aged children and their families. To accompany a hot lunch, The Salvation Army is also distributing breakfast to students for the following morning and, on Fridays, that increases to include breakfast material for both Saturday and Sunday.

The Salvation Army of Northwest Arkansas is adapting its service delivery methods, with the implementation of drive-thru service for the cities of Fayetteville, Springdale and Rogers. This alteration allows for social distancing and the distribution of a larger food supply box for each household. Since mid-March, a critical increase of food distribution has emerged, with nearly 3,000 boxes distributed in the community. In addition, meals, emergency assistance and/or sheltering assistance has been provided to nearly 6,000 individuals in the region.

Continuing a Blog Post written by Brad Rowland, Staff Writer, Southern Spirit Newspaper