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Salvation Army Offers Aid to Georgian Refugees
Salvation Army Offers Aid as Individuals Flee Fighting in Republic of Georgia
Released 19 August 2008
The Salvation Army in the Republic of Georgia is providing emergency assistance to people who have fled the fighting between Russian and Georgian armed forces in the South Ossetia region. In the town of Gori, where displaced people are gathering, The Salvation Army has supplied humanitarian aid, blankets, medical supplies and food to a local hospital for distribution. It is likely that additional aid will be taken to Gori.
Georgian Salvation Army officers met with government representatives to discuss how they can be of ongoing assistance. They are keen to coordinate with other government and non-governmental agency responses.
The Salvation Army is caring for almost 200 South Ossetian refugees housed in a kindergarten in Ponichala, a suburb of the Georgian capital, Tbilisi. Beds, bedding, clothes, toiletries and other necessities are being provided, and piping is being installed for water and temporary showers.
"The suddenness and intensity of the conflict caught everyone by surprise," said Lt. Colonel Alistair Herring, second in command of The Salvation Army's Eastern Europe Territory, "but officers and other Salvationists in Georgia responded quickly to the growing humanitarian crisis. We ask for prayer for Georgia and for Russia (both countries are within the Eastern Europe Territory); a swift path to the cessation of hostilities and a peaceful resolution to the conflict, and for the many people who've been caught up in the fighting and for the families of those killed."
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