Brian Venables, the Salvation Army’s B.C. division commander and his wife Anne are in Williams Lake this week working with local and visiting Salvation Army volunteers from around the province who are here helping to ease the trauma for people impacted by the wild fires raging in the region.
The Salvation Army has a booth set up at the Resiliency Centre in the upper level of Boitanio Mall and a food truck set up just outside the centre to feed anyone who may be hungry.
The Salvation Army food truck came from the Terrace division and Salvation Army volunteers and members helping to feed people have come to the lakecity from as far away as Nelson, Terrace, Prince George, and Chilliwack.
Anne said the Salvation Army is serving breakfast, lunch and dinner from the truck for anyone who needs a meal, be they people impacted by the fire evacuation orders and alerts or volunteers and members of the various support groups operating in the city during the wildfire crisis.
“We have been serving about 700 meals a day to whoever needs them,” Anne said.
Tuesday Joel Torrens, a new Salvation Army cadet, was also handing out candy bars and juice to people coming to the Resiliency Centre to register with the Red Cross and collect resources available to them there which include a bucket of household cleaning supplies for their homes, information on coping with the stress of the fire situation, and needed supplies such as bags of non-perishable food, personal care items such as toothpaste and shampoo, baby diapers, pet food etc.
The Salvation Army table also has colouring pages and other activities for children set up at the centre.
“We are here providing emotional and spiritual support,” Anne added. “We are here to talk and just listen. We do a lot of listening.”
The Salvation Army is part of the wildfire relief team which includes volunteers and staff working with the United Way, Telus, Red Cross, the local ministerial association, First Nation service organizations, various volunteer organizations, the City of Williams Lake, and Cariboo Regional District to provide support for people in need during the wildfire crisis.