Wilmington, NC – Having weathered Hurricane Florence and the flooding that followed, the residents of the Cape Fear region of North Carolina are now heading into the clean-up and recovery phase. The Salvation Army has been with them every step of the way, and will continue to aid in long-term recovery with valuable allies like the staff of New Hanover County.
When presented with the opportunity from Little Caesars to have their Love Kitchen come out to serve in Wilmington, The Salvation Army team thought about the partners who have been working alongside them for several weeks to make sure men, women, and children in their community got the resources they needed.
“It’s important for us to care for the Emergency Managers and government staff because they’ve been solely focused on the community’s needs, not necessarily their own selfcare,” says Jessica Geib, Incident Management Team Liaison for The Salvation Army’s Hurricane Florence response in Wilmington. “If we can provide them a few minutes to reenergize and refocus, they’ll be able to better care for others.”
The Little Caesars Love Kitchen rolled into the parking lot of the New Hanover County Government Center where the Emergency Operations Center for Hurricane Florence had been located due to storm damage to their existing facility. Met with surprised faces, laughter and smiles, The Salvation Army and Little Caesar’s teamed up to serve more than 300 meals and drinks to County staff and emergency responders.
“Having The Salvation Army out here partnering with Little Caesars has really been a nice surprise for the County staff,” says Steven Still, New Hanover County Emergency Manager. “Many of our employees have been working 12+ hour days for the past few weeks. We have a long recovery in front of us, and this was just the morale boost we needed.”
The Salvation Army is honored to serve not only those impacted in times of disaster, but those who have dedicated their lives to serving as well.
As of October 1, 2018, The Salvation Army has provided the following in response to Hurricane Florence:
- Meals – 333,979
- Drinks – 75,961
- Snacks – 199,356
- Food Boxes – 9,026
- Emotional & Spiritual Care – 21,008 individuals
- Clean-up Kits – 6,785
- Personal Hygiene Kits – 8,424
To join The Salvation Army’s Emergency Disaster Service team, visit www.SalArmyEDS.org.
How to Help
The best way to help after a disaster is to make a financial donation. Monetary donations allow disaster responders to immediately meet the specific needs of disaster survivors as the situation continues to be assessed.
Online: www.HelpSalvationArmy.org
Donate by phone: 1-800-SAL-ARMY
To receive a donation link via text: Text STORM to 51555
