Samaritan’s Purse Expands Midwest Flood Relief Efforts to Include Iowa

TODAY: Samaritan’s Purse Disaster Relief Unit and Convoy of Aid Dispatched to Cedar Falls, Iowa

BOONE, N.C., June 20, 2008—As President Bush returns from yesterday's visit to the flood damaged Midwestern states, international Christian relief organization Samaritan's Purse is providing immediate aid to devastated victims.  Today a Disaster Relief Unit and convoy of supplies left North Carolina to join staff already on the ground in Cedar Falls, Iowa, aiding local residents. 

A command center at a local church has been established as a base to coordinate staff and volunteer teams to assist the community in rebuilding efforts.  The teams will work in homes to clear mud, mold and debris as well as salvage the personal items of residents-many of whom have lost everything.  Representatives from Samaritan's Purse are also working with state and city officials to send a Disaster Relief Unit to another flooded region of Iowa.

This morning's mobilization of supplies adds to the ongoing relief efforts of Samaritan's Purse staff in flooded regions of Indiana.  A Disaster Relief Unit and convoy of supplies arrived in Columbus, Ind., on June 12, and teams of volunteers continue to work with the community to help victims recover.

"Residents in the Midwest have suffered greatly as a result of this disaster. We are there to help meet their physical needs, but more importantly we want them to know that God loves them," said Franklin Graham, president and CEO of Samaritan's Purse.

The organization has four tractor-trailer units stocked with emergency supplies and tools, ready to roll whenever disaster strikes.  Each of these Disaster Relief Units can function as a self-supporting operations center for volunteers and staff.  The priority of Samaritan's Purse is to help those who are unable to help themselves-the poor, elderly, disabled and uninsured.                                 

Last year, staff and volunteers responded to tornadoes in Americus, Ga., and Greensburg, Kan., as well as flooding in Minnesota and wildfires in California.  On the Gulf Coast, Samaritan's Purse helped clean, repair or replace homes for more than 12,000 families after the devastating hurricanes of 2005.

Samaritan's Purse is a non-profit organization that provides immediate, no-red-tape response to the physical and spiritual needs of individuals in crisis situations-especially in locations where few others are working.  Samaritan's Purse has worked in more than 100 countries to provide aid to victims of war, disease, disaster, poverty, famine and persecution. Most recently, the organization airlifted staff and hundreds of tons of emergency supplies to China and Myanmar in response to the disasters in those countries.

-30-