The Salvation Army Increases Emergency Vehicle Capacity Thanks to Rogers Family Donation

The Salvation Army Emergency Disaster Services was the beneficiary of a generous donation of $250,000 from the Rogers Family that funded upgrades to their fleet of vital disaster relief vehicles.

Also, $25,000 was allocated for meal services supplies such as environmentally friendly food containers and $20,000 for EDS training for safe food handling and canteen operations.

“These vehicles are a critical part of our effective response to an emergency in the region, or to provide support to our street ministries through feeding programs or other mobile operations,” said Dan Millar, Divisional Director of Community Partnerships and Emergency Disaster Services for the Salvation Army Ontario Division. “We are grateful for the Rogers Family funding to help enhance our fleet of vehicles and provide training because it assists us in providing hope and serve our community’s most vulnerable when they are in need.”

The new Ford Transit 350 CRU Salvation Army Disaster Relief vehicle destined for the Oshawa region has the capability of feeding 200 of the community’s most vulnerable with prepared meals, and in the case of an emergency, it can serve up to 1000 prepared meals. The food is arranged in another Salvation Army facility and kept warm in heated Cambro units or, cooled in refrigerators onboard the vehicle.

Additional capabilities of this vehicle include water tanks and generators.

“This emergency relief vehicle for the Oshawa region is ready to be picked up and will be operational once a week for a feeding program, but will be available 24-7 in case of an emergency in the region,” said Millar. “We are extremely fortunate to have this additional resource as part of our efforts to assist our community members.”

The existing EDS vehicle in that region will be refurbished into a multi-purpose van thanks to the Rogers Family funding and be redeployed to Ottawa region to help with transporting supplies during an emergency or, assisting Community and Family Services with delivering refrigerated supplies.

“This vehicle is equipped with a cooling system to maintain refrigerated products that will be transported safely and will be operational in March 2021,” said Millar. “From a capacity standpoint, this multi-purpose vehicle can support over 1000 individuals or more because it will transport supplies or serve 250 meals when it’s not utilized during an emergency.”

The EDS relief vehicle in Peterborough will also be refurbished and redeployed to either Northern Ontario or Southern Ontario depending on community needs.

By: Billy Canning