The feeding of 8,300

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September 5, 2008

The Salvation Army feeds another army

By Ben Lockridge The Meridian Star Fri Sep 05, 2008, 10:39 PM CDT

Monday, Sept. 1, 2008, East Mississippi and West Alabama waited for a bomb that never went off. A bomb in the form of Hurricane Gustav.

While Meridian and surrounding counties never saw any real damage; residents of many cities in Louisiana fled in the direction of Mississippi in hopes of finding shelter and a meal.

One group that helped provide some of those needs was The Salvation Army.

"I got a call on Sunday at around 5:30 in the morning that Alabama Emergency Management and The Department of Transportation was setting up at the Alabama Welcome Center at Exit 1 on the interstate," said Major Helene Wildish of The Salvation Army. "They needed to feed bus drivers and bus passengers that are evacuees throughout the day until we were told to go home. The evacuees had been on the buses for over 20 hours, and they were hungry."

Major Wildish was told that they were to prepare to feed about 1,000 people who would be there throughout the day. However, by the end of the job, Wildish was surprised to find that the number was far greater than 1,000.

"We got out there by 7 a.m., and throughout the day 1,000 people turned into 1,500 people; 1,500 turned into 2,000, and before we knew it the number ended up being 8,300." Wildish said.

The Alabama Welcome center saw 145 buses roll in that day with hurricane evacuees, and a lot of extra people that showed up on their own.

Helene is reminded of when Jesus Christ fed the 5,000 in the Bible.

"The food just seemed to never run out." Helene said. "In a situation like this you just go into disaster mode, pray a lot, and just do it."

In addition to The Salvation Army's hurricane efforts, they also have a new family store up and running. Wildish says it's going well, but they do need help in one area.

"We're getting plenty of used items, but what we're not getting is undergarments." Wildish said.

If anyone would like to buy and donate some new undergarments for The Salvation Army Family Store, you can drop those items at their store location on Frontage Road right beside Hudson's Treasure Hunt.

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