Denver, CO (June 24, 2012) - The Salvation Army's Emergency Disaster Services (EDS) teams are actively providing relief to evacuees from both the Waldo Canyon Fire and the High Park Fire with additional volunteers and resources on standby should they be needed. The Salvation Army is assessing the needs of disaster survivors in both locations and The Salvation Army's ability to respond to those needs - both immediately and for the longer term.  

For the Waldo Canyon Fire, The Salvation Army's local Emergency Disaster Services (EDS) unit at the Cheyenne Mountain High School evacuee shelter provided more than 250 meals to evacuees at breakfast.  The EDS unit at this location will provide for survivors' immediate needs, such as food, water, comfort, and counseling. Mountain Man Nuts & Fruit will be donating several pallets of healthy snacks for the evacuees.

High Park Fire relief including 24/7 food & hydration services, emotional & spiritual care, and needs assistance through gift cards. To date, the High Park teams have served 4,122 meals, more than 6,000 cold beverages, and 4,000 snacks to evacuees and law enforcement officials. The feeding operations are taking place at the Ranch in Loveland and will remain in this location. Moving forward a self-served breakfast, an 11:00 AM lunch, and 4:00 PM dinner will be available at that site.

The Salvation Army's Loveland Service Extension Unit is at the Disaster Recovery Center for the High Park Fire providing gift cards to evacuees to enable them to purchase basic essentials. Currently evacuees are in desperate need of food, toiletries, undergarments, clothing, shoes, and gasoline. To date they have given out 84 gift cards totaling $3,500 to both families and individuals. This service is expected to increase heavily over the next few days and The Salvation Army is looking to the community to help us meet this need through financial donations to disaster relief organizations. The Salvation Army asks that the community not bring the items listed below to the recovery center, but rather make a financial contribution which allows the relief workers to better meet the need of each evacuee.

At this time, The Salvation Army is asking for financial assistance to fund both the immediate and long term relief work in Colorado Springs and in Larimer County.  Those who wish to support The Salvation Army's disaster response may do so by sending a check earmarked "Disaster Relief" to their local Salvation Army office, or by donating online at www.imsalvationarmy.org, or by making a credit card donation at 1-800-SAL-ARMY.