Stephen Rees's blog

I just received this press release from the Salvation Army. You may well have seen the news about the disaster that has befallen British Columbia. I am fortunate not to live in one of the hard hit areas. I am also an atheist but the Salvation Army has taken lots of stuff from us that we needed to dispose of over the years, some of which must have been sold and the funds used for their services.

No doubt there will be other appeals – and BC is getting help from the Canadian government. But if you were looking for some way to help we do know that the Sally Annes are on the ground Doing Good now.

POSTSCRIPT

This was posted to Twitter by the CBC shortly after this post was published

“Disaster Financial Assistance (DFA) is now available for eligible British Columbians in southwest, central and southeast areas of the province and Vancouver Island who were affected by flooding and landslides from Nov. 14-16. DFA is available to homeowners, residential tenants, business owners, local governments, Indigenous communities, farmers and charitable organizations that were unable to obtain insurance to cover disaster-related losses.”

Lots of pictures of the damage – and the work being done to repair it

And Air Canada just tweeted “in response to #BCStorm, Air Canada is adding cargo capacity by upgauging 14 flights to #A330 & #Dreamliner aircraft to @yvrairport from @yulaeroport, @TorontoPearson & @FlyYYC to help maintain important economic supply links to/from BC. We continue to monitor this situation.”

The Provincial Emergency Coordination Center has been activated. Those who wish to donate funds, supplies, or services to support the flood recovery effort can e-mail donations@gov.bc.ca or contact the Canadian Red Cross at WeCare@redcross.ca or 1-800-418-1111.

Vancouver, B.C. (Nov. 18) — The Salvation Army has launched a massive emergency response effort to help victims of the worst flood in a century in British Columbia. Emergency Units are on the ground in six of the hardest hit communities across the province providing food, hydration, shelter, clothing, and blankets to first responders, evacuees, and flood victims.

“We have been on the ground since day one in the hardest hit communities,” says Mike Leland spokesperson for The Salvation Army in B.C. “We have several of our trained emergency response units actively supporting the impacted communities. Our feeding trucks are there, we have been airlifting in meals, and we have set up evacuation centres in communities to receive victims of the floods.”

With six emergency response vehicles in the field and evacuation centres open, The Salvation Army is on the front lines in Kelowna, Kamloops, Chilliwack, and Abbotsford, while locations in Maple Ridge and Abbotsford have been working around the clock to supply communities with food, hydration, and blankets. To date, the Army has provided close to 10,000 meals to those being impacted, as well as those first responders who are on the ground. They also mobilized two more Emergency Vehicles on standby in case the weather begins to change once again.

“Several of our locations outside of the impacted areas mobilized their communities immediately to assist in the effort,” says Leland. “This is a tragedy unfolding and we are here for those people and communities day and night and we will be here to end, and see this through into the recovery phase… this is what we do, but we don’t do it alone.”

The Salvation Army has also launched an Emergency Flood Relief Appeal. People can help by going to salvationarmy.ca/BCFlood or call 1.800.SAL.ARMY to make a safe and secure donation.

“We need people to help,” says Leland. “This is going to take everyone coming together, not only to assist right now, but to help these communities recover in the weeks and months ahead. Every dollar donated will go directly towards helping these communities today with essential services and then into the aftermath of these floods to help them recover.”