An organization that’s on the front lines of natural disasters and other emergencies is now better equipped to help the people impacted as well as the first responders attending the scene.
Late last year, the Kelowna Salvation Army acquired a new, state-of-the-art community response truck.
The 28-foot vehicle is a mobile kitchen worth $300,000, and was gifted to the Salvation Army by an anonymous donor.
“It gives us a little more confidence when we go out,” said Sonia Withers, the community ministries coordinator with the Salvation Army in Kelowna. “It gives us the tools we need to do the job.”
The truck features a much bigger and better mobile kitchen than its previous truck.
In addition, the new unit offers amenities the former mobile kitchen did not.
The new features will not only increase the ability to make up to 3,000 meals a day, up from the 1,200 in the old truck, but it also means meals prepped in the new unit will be fresher.
“We were preparing a lot of the food here on site in our Rutland location and then sending it out,” Withers said. “Now we are going to be able to prepare more of it on the truck itself and serve from where we are cooking.”
The ability to cook on scene will also allow the Salvation Army to stay at emergency sites longer.
The truck and its volunteers will respond to wherever they are needed in the Okanagan, B.C., and even out of province.
And while wildfires make the Okanagan one of the busiest regions in the province for disaster responses, the truck is prepared to offer support for all kinds of emergencies.
“Somebody is missing, it could be search and rescue,” said Withers. “If there is a threat of a bomb or a terrorist attack, then we can go out on site in the safe zones and be able to support to the teams that are needing support in those areas.”
The truck arrived in Kelowna in November, but has yet to make its debut in the field.
The former truck used by the Salvation Army in Kelowna has now been sent to the Salvation Army in Cranbrook.
In related news, with flood and fire season around the corner, the Salvation Army is in dire need of more emergency disaster volunteers.
The organization is holding an information session for people interested in becoming volunteers on Thursday, Feb. 6, 6 p.m., at the Salvation Army Community Church at 1480 Sutherland Avenue in Kelowna.
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