The Salvation Army is struggling with dwindling donations across the country that will make it hard to give long-term assistance after a disaster, and a spokesman for the charity says “we have to hope and pray” this year’s hurricane season is mild.
The organization will continue to provide the basics — food, water and shelter, said Maj. George Hood, the Salvation Army’s national spokesman. But it isn’t likely to offer more costly recovery aid, such as the $10,000 grants that were given to Hurricane Katrina victims to help them repair their homes. The religious charity also has given mortgage, rent and downpayment assistance to disaster victims in the past.
The Salvation Army’s cost-cutting moves include plans to close two offices along the Hurricane-prone Gulf coast: one in Mississippi’s Hancock County Aug. 28 and one in Metairie, La., in December. Both were Katrina recovery centers.
Hood said the moves were made by local divisions of the charity.
“The problem is the economy,” Hood said, adding that the agency will still be able to offer basic services in a crisis. “If and when we have a hurricane, the Salvation Army will be there. We’ll be mobilized.”
Still, even last year, Hood said the organization was unable to offer as much sustained help in the aftermath of Hurricanes Gustav and Ike as in years past.
The charity usually raises $50 million to $75 million for a single hurricane relief effort, but last year, it raised only $13 million for the entire season, Hood said.
The 2009 Atlantic hurricane season began June 1. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicts a near-normal season, with a chance of four to seven hurricanes with up to three of them being major storms.
Some of the other major charities that respond to disasters say they’re in solid shape going into hurricane season.
American Red Cross spokeswoman Laura Howe said her nonprofit has raised more than $90 million of a $100 million campaign.
Roger Conner, a national spokesman for Catholic Charities USA, said his group also expects it will be able to provide the same level of disaster relief as in years past.
In some areas of the country, the Salvation Army’s iconic red kettles, usually seen during the holiday season, have made an early appearance. Twenty-one cities in 10 states including Iowa, New York and Ohio, are participating in the “Kettles in July” effort, though it’s not a national campaign, said Jaime Joswick, a national spokeswoman for the charity. The goal is to help meet an increased need in services for people hit by the slumping economy. (AP)
