For the latest updates on The Salvation Army’s response to this disaster, please visit the Salvation Army blog.

We were glad to get this update from Harland Goodwin, the planned giving director of The Salvation Army in our area. The Salvation Army’s planned giving office is one of Maine Senior Guide’s resources.

Three Salvation Army teams in Japan are providing vital assistance to people affected by the country’s earthquake, the resulting tsunami, and ongoing problems at a nuclear power station. The Japanese Government has recognized the Army’s work and given its teams permission to enter the disaster area and use access roads that are closed off to the public.

The first of the three teams went to Sendai, where about 1,000 meals were served to evacuees. Hot meals and drinks were prepared in The Salvation Army’s mobile emergency canteen and given out at The Salvation Army corps (worship and service center) in Sendai. Hand towels and Salvation Army publications were also distributed.

The second team went to a relief office in the Mito area and unloaded bottles of water, biscuits, blankets, diapers and tissue boxes for distribution to evacuees.

The third team headed to an area where people had been evacuated from the vicinity around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station, but snow and shortage of petrol meant they had to divert to other areas to support evacuees.

Offers of support are pouring in from around the world. The Salvation Army’s International Headquarters in London sent two experienced International Emergency Services workers to Tokyo to assist their Japanese colleagues. The BBC reports that volunteers from a British group which failed to obtain clearance to work in the affected areas ‘donated their food and medical supplies to The Salvation Army working in the country’.

The Salvation Army in Korea has arranged for the K-Water Corporation to provide 100,000 bottles of water to Japan – 30,000 bottles by the end of the week, followed by the rest within a short time – and the Korea Disaster Relief Association will be sending 5,000 first-aid kits. Salvationists in Korea are holding a month of prayer for the people of Japan.

In a touching show of solidarity 1,500 young Salvationists in Haiti – who themselves have recent experience of a devastating earthquake – made prayer for Japan a focus of their rally in Fond-des-Nègres on March 11 and 12.

Monetary donations are the most critical need as supplies and personnel are mobilized. These funds offer the greatest flexibility and enable local disaster responders to purchase exactly what is needed as close to the disaster zone as possible.

There are four ways people can contribute money to The Salvation Army’s disaster relief efforts in Japan:

  • Text the words “JAPAN” or “QUAKE” to 80888 to make a $10 donation.
  • By phone: 1-800-SAL-ARMY
  • On-line at:  https://donate.salvationarmyusa.org
  • By mail: Send your check, marked “Japan earthquake relief” to The Salvation Army World Service Office.