General News
3 November, 2022
Salvos provide support for flood impacted communities
The Salvation Army’s vision of standing strong against hardships was actualised last month as flooding wreaked havoc in the region. With assistance from local groups, the team from Salvos Maryborough Corps helped set up relief centres in the town...
The Salvation Army’s vision of standing strong against hardships was actualised last month as flooding wreaked havoc in the region.
With assistance from local groups, the team from Salvos Maryborough Corps helped set up relief centres in the town and surrounds by organising bedding and catering for those affected.
“We’ve had team members, including myself, go pretty much everywhere where we’ve been flood affected in the state,” Maryborough Salvation Army captain Ronald Stobie said.
The Salvation Army Emergency Services (SAES) had teams assisting at nine centres: Creswick, Echuca, Bendigo, Seymour, Echuca, Tatura and Shepparton in Victoria.
In some sites Salvos is currently in the recovery phase which is a long-term process.
“When it comes to any kind of disaster there’s two sides to the coin — there’s relief and then there’s recovery,” Mr Stobie said.
“Aside from catering and bedding, we do a whole heap of emotional aid. When we move into the recovery side, in addition to all that, we can also provide funds.
“We’re just there to try and help people sort through what their next steps are.”
To support communities in the aftermath of the floods, The Salvation Army has mobilised funds of up to $2 million.
Mr Stobie also said a call for donations will be put out when required.
“It’s about figuring out the exact nature of the stuff [communities] need right here and now versus some of the longer term stuff. So eventually, there will come a time where we do a big donation drive, particularly for people affected by the floods. We’re just not at that stage at the moment purely because some of these places don’t have the space for them,” he said.
Another way people can help is by contacting the local council or the impacted community to find out what they need before going in with donations that aren’t required.
“There’s incident control that runs everything and they’ve got people that have their finger on the pulse of what’s actually needed. Just so we don’t have too many people going in to drop off stuff that may or may not be needed,” Mr Stobie said.
For more information on volunteering with The Salvation Army during emergency situations visit their website on www.salvationarmy.org.au/maryborough/volunteer/