02 October 2016

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Baton Rouge, LA — As citizens of the Greater Baton Rouge area continue moving forward with the cleanup and rebuilding of their lives, The Salvation Army is transitioning from disaster relief and response toward long term recovery.  The recovery process will be a long and arduous one for those who have lost so much, and The Salvation Army will continue to assist as the needs continue to shift.  

Captain Brett Meredith shares, “As we have seen the community begin to recover from the devastating flood event in August, we will be redirecting our efforts from immediate needs towards addressing the long term recovery needs within the community.”

As part of the transition, mobile feeding units will be roving communities through Sunday, September 25. The Salvation Army Emergency Social Services Center at Cortana Mall will continue to provide emotional and spiritual care and social services daily from 10am-3pm through September 30 when we will begin the transition to implementing the Long Term Recovery Plan including the Christmas Assistance Program. 

The Baton Rouge Corps lost nine of its ten buildings in the area totaling nearly 300 thousand square feet of damage due to floodwaters. Cortana Mall will be the Corps’ home for the coming months.

“We use this facility to house our Angel Tree operations, so with Christmas only months away, the Cortana Mall was a logical choice for our temporary home,” said Captain Meredith.

To date, 2,139 volunteers have served 15,178 volunteer hours with The Salvation Army to assist 72,868 with emergency social services and 192,603 hot meals in the response to the historic flooding in Louisiana.  Together, with the help of our volunteers, we will continue to serve the community as long as there is a ne­­ed. 

The Salvation Army is still accepting donations from across the country. For more information, go to http://www.salvationarmyusa.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.