The area around the Wilkes-Barre, PA general area is beginning to see some return to normalcy. A lot of neighborhoods have power and basic services. We have seen more decreases in feeding on mobile units.  Two canteens were sent out today. Unit 2 was sent to Plainsville & West Nanticoke, and unit 5 went to Shickshinny, Maconaqua, and Wapwallopen.  These more rural areas still represent significant needs.  We will maintain our current feeding schedule through tomorrow.

We had our first day of S.A.F.A.C. (Salvation Army Flood Assistance Center).  The SAFAC provided food boxes, clothing vouchers, and merchandise cards to 88 people.  Our casework staff and pastoral care teams were on-hand to assist clients.

After clients for the flood relief have registered with the welcome desk, they are escorted over to the waiting area.  At the waiting area, our pastoral care officers were on-hand to offer comfort and guidance to the individuals and families.  Lt. Valentina Cantu (pictured right) is spending time playing with a child of a disaster victim and is herself a disaster victim.  Lt. Cantu spent several minutes playing with the girl and reading to her.  After a few moments at the provided kid’s activity station, the little girl proudly walked around the corps gym showing everyone her sticker tatoos.  It was one way to bring a small amount of joy into a person’s life.

Connie Jones (Service Extension Director from Georgia) is pictured here assisting a client to navigate through the paperwork process.  Connie is an experienced disaster relief worker for The Salvation Army and cooks the only peach cobbler that I will actually eat!

Her and another director, Sandy Roberts, were originally assigned to Incident Command as cooks to support the mobile feeding operations.  In the course of discovering the path of our relief, the casework experience of Mrs. Jones and Ms. Roberts allowed them to be vital in the intake process.

Incident Commander – Major Ed Binnix

Emotional & Spiritual Care Lead – Major Lloyd Kerns

Assistant PIO (Public Information Officer) – Andrea Halsey