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Salvation Army Testimony at W&M Hearing on Charitable Groups' Reaction to Terrorist Attacks

NOV. 8, 2001

Salvation Army Testimony at W&M Hearing on Charitable Groups' Reaction to Terrorist Attacks

DATED NOV. 8, 2001
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=============== FULL TEXT ===============

 

PUBLIC TESTIMONY OF THE SALVATION ARMY USA

 

BEFORE THE HOUSE SUBCOMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT

 

FOR THE COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS

 

 

NOVEMBER 8, 2001 -- 9:30 a.m.

 

1100 LONGWORTH HOUSE OFFICE BUILDING

 

 

THE SALVATION ARMY'S RESPONSE TO THE TERRORIST ATTACKS OF SEPT. 11

 

 

[1] The Salvation Army, founded in 1865 in the east end of London, first set foot on American soil in 1880. Eight Salvation Army officers, one man and seven women were sent by the Army's founder, General William Booth, to establish the ministry and service of The Salvation Army in America.

[2] Twenty years later, September 8, 1900, The Salvation Army in the United States formally began its first national disaster response when a hurricane struck Galveston, Texas, killing over 5,000 people and virtually destroying the city. For the first time, the Army mobilized personnel, volunteers and resources throughout the country to provide prayer, emotional counsel and practical financial and material assistance. From that moment in time we have never looked back nor failed to immediately respond to any disaster, whether it be fire, flood, storm, earthquake or aviation. Today, we can add acts of terrorism to that list.

[3] On September 11, 2001 this country was assaulted on numerous fronts. It began in New York City, just a few blocks away from our roots in Battery Park. From the moment of initial impact at the World Trade Center to the visible sighting of the plane going down in Somerset, Salvation Army personnel and volunteers began to mobilize and were on the scenes of disaster within 45 minutes in all three locations. While we have developed response procedures that are automatic for hurricanes and tornadoes, there is no blueprint for what we have been through over the past 57 days. And yet, the results have been rather remarkable.

[4] It may be helpful for you to understand that The Salvation Army does not operate nor maintain a full-time national disaster response team or administrative staff. We have one Salvation Army officer designated as the National Disaster Services Coordinator and he represents the Salvation Army in a coordinating capacity with FEMA, the FAA and other disaster related non-profit organizations. Likewise, we have no national fund raising program designated specifically to disaster response. Whenever disaster strikes, we respond. We are entirely community based in that response and we remain community based in our fund raising initiatives. Local Salvation Army personnel take command and provide leadership when disaster strikes and when the public responds with financial support all monies are channeled directly to the point of need without administrative overhead. Our experience has always been to meet the immediate needs and the American public will usually respond in compassionate support.

[5] We are aware that the key pieces of information you would like to leave with today are how much money has been given to The Salvation Army for this specific disaster response, how much has been spent and for what has it been spent. And then, you would like to know what our plans are for utilization of the balance of these funds.

[6] I can report to you today that The Salvation Army has received $60,484,323 in contributions from the American public. No donated disaster funds have been spent on fundraising or public relations expense for the disaster. Therefore, these funds have all been designated for disaster relief in either New York City, the greater Washington, DC area or Western Pennsylvania. It is our standing policy that all designated funds must be utilized fully as intended by the donor and as a result, the full amount of these funds will be collected from across the United States and channeled appropriately to the three primary disaster sites.

[7] All Salvation Army disaster funds have been deposited directly into Salvation Army bank accounts, all of which are subject to both internal and external audit procedures conducted annually at every Salvation Army unit throughout the United States. All Salvation Army operations, including disaster, are conducted under the oversight of Salvation Army officer leadership. In addition, every local Salvation Army operation is supported by a local advisory board of prominent community leaders. Oversight to national Salvation Army operations is given by a national advisory board of 42 national leaders. The current chairman of the national advisory board is Donald V. Fites, retired CEO of Caterpillar Inc. The immediate past chairman is Steven S. Reinemund, CEO of PepsiCo and the incoming chairman is Edsel B. Ford II of Ford Motor Company. The disaster services committee of the national advisory board is lead by Marilyn Tucker Quayle, Robert K. Goodwin, James Lee Witt and Vice Admiral Michael P. Kalleres.

[8] Obviously we are still aggressively working to address the immediate needs of those who have been impacted. There are many services being provided that are highly visible, such as feeding rescue workers, counseling distressed police and firemen, providing financial aid to thousands of families, but I wish to share with you a practical service we provided all across the country and throughout Canada on September 11, 12 and 13. You will recall the decision that was made to take all commercial planes out of the skies. They were ordered to land immediately at designated airports, leaving hundreds of thousands of passengers stranded in cities, never intended to visit. The Salvation Army in many of those cities went to airports and provided free meals, counseling and overnight housing for many stranded travelers. Properties that we normally use as summer camps for children, were instantly converted into safe shelter and housing for stranded passengers. We have a report from our friends in Canada of a small community in Newfoundland that tripled its population overnight with stranded air passengers and The Salvation Army became their primary source of food and lodging until they could complete their scheduled journey.

[9] I would like to refer you to the financial and service report that you have been provided because it documents for you our delivery of service to date, as well as our projection of service through the year 2003. From that report you can easily see that we have served nearly 2 million people over the past eight weeks, and based upon the daily service levels still active in New York City I can assure you we have surpassed the 2 million mark as of this moment. Nearly 2.5 million meals have been delivered to rescue workers and volunteers and 55,000 individuals have received direct financial assistance for rent, utilities, food, housing and transportation.

[10] In our efforts to coordinate with FEMA, the local municipalities and other response agencies, it seems that the major portion of our response will be focused upon displaced and unemployed families who have been described as "collateral victims". We will continue to assist those who are laboring daily at "ground zero" and we are committed to staying there as long as the City of New York, FEMA and the Medical Examiners Office need us. We will not depart until the job is done. But, our primary role now appears to be meeting the immediate financial needs of financially damaged families -- the airlines' employees, hotel employees, small business employees, and those of numerous sectors -- who have lost their jobs and means of income.

[11] Once again, referring to the report we have provided you, of the $60.4 million contributed, we have spent $8.5 million on immediate needs. We have projected a budget for the balance of this year through the year 2003 amounting to an additional $53.7 million in direct assistance. As you can see it is our intent that 100% of all designated funds contributed will be directed to the community based command centers of New York City, New Jersey, Washington DC and Western Pennsylvania for a community led response. We envision that 20% of these funds will be spent on rescue and clean-up support at the disaster sites and the remaining 80% will be spent on direct financial aid to impacted families.

[12] Mr. Chairman, that provides you and the esteemed members of this committee a brief snapshot of The Salvation Army's response to the carnage of these terrorist strikes. It does not reveal the raw emotion of pain and fear and anguish that has altered many lives and our nation. Time does not permit the sharing of hundreds upon hundreds of stories being told and lives being rescripted. But it simply identifies the commitment of Salvation Army officers and volunteers from communities in every state of this great land who have responded and remain poised to further respond. We consider it a sacred privilege to serve America in this way and pledge our continued support and cooperation in whatever way we can.

Thank you.

                       THE SALVATION ARMY USA

 

                   SEPTEMBER 11TH DISASTER REPORT

 

 

                       INCOME/EXPENSE ANALYSIS

 

                           AS OF 11/05/01

 

 

INCOME BY LOCATION

 

CASH RECEIVED

 

 

Central Territory (11 Mid-America States)                  $2,728,746

 

Eastern Territory (11 Northeastern States)                 29,404,087

 

Southern Territory (15 Southern States)                     7,599,352

 

Western Territory (13 Western States)                       3,719,996

 

National Headquarters                                      17,032,142

 

                                                          ___________

 

              Total All Cash and Pledges                  $60,484,323

 

 

EXPENSES BY LOCATION

 

SPECIFIC SERVICES GIVEN

 

 

Eastern Territory (WTC/Pennsylvania):

 

     Disaster Site Rescue Services (Meals, Supplies,

 

     Equipment)                                            $2,900,954

 

     Social Services to Impacted Families (Rent,

 

     Utilities, Mortgage, Transportation, Counseling)       3,641,646

 

 

Southern Territory (Pentagon/Northern Virginia):

 

     Disaster Site Rescue Services (Meals, Supplies,

 

     Equipment)                                               311,625

 

     Social Services to Impacted Families (Rent,

 

     Utilities, Mortgage, Transportation, Counseling)       1,151,490

 

National Crisis Response (All States)

 

     Social Services to Impacted Families & Stranded

 

     Travelers                                                500,000

 

                                                          ___________

 

              Total Expenses by Services Given            $ 8,505,715

 

              (09/12/01 -- 10/31/01)

 

 

              Income Less Expenses to Date                $51,978,608

 

 

              Forecasted Expenses 11/01-12/03             $53,727,000

 

 

              Forecasted Deficit After 2003               (1,748,392)

 

 

                     PROJECTED EXPENSE ANALYSIS

 

          26 MONTHS -- NOVEMBER, 2001 THROUGH DECEMBER, 2003

 

 

FORECASTED EXPENSES BY LOCATION

 

NOVEMBER, 2001 THROUGH DECEMBER, 2003

 

_____________________________________________________________________

 

Eastern Territory:        2001         2002       2003        Total

 

                      (Nov., Dec.) (12 months) (12 months) (26 months)

 

_____________________________________________________________________

 

World Trade Center

 

Emergency Disaster

 

     Support          $ 4,000,000   $4,800,000  $           $8,800,000

 

New York City Social

 

     Services           5,827,000   12,000,000   5,000,000  22,827,000

 

New Jersey Social

 

     Services           2,000,000    4,000,000   1,500,000   7,500,000

 

Airline Survivor

 

     Family Services      500,000      250,000     100,000     850,000

 

 

Southern Territory:

 

 

Pentagon/Reagan

 

     Airport

 

     Disaster Support $   250,000  $            $           $  250,000

 

Greater DC Area

 

     Family Social

 

     Services           3,000,000    9,000,000   1,500,000  13,500,000

 

 

Total Forecasted

 

     Expenses         $15,577,000  $30,050,000   8,100,000 $53,727,000

 

 

                   ACTUAL SERVICE DELIVERY REPORT

 

          FROM SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 THROUGH OCTOBER 31, 2001

 

 

     Meals Served at Disaster Sites                         2,391,834

 

     Mental Health/Social Services Counseling Contacts         54,786

 

     Individuals Prayed With                                  155,783

 

     Volunteers Involved                                       22,310

 

     Volunteer Hours Given                                    721,898

 

     SA Officers/Employees Involved                             2,507

 

     SA Officers Hours of Service                              40,694

 

     Unduplicated Units of Service                          1,915,877
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