Sullivan, Indiana – After an EF3 tornado devastated hundreds of homes in Sullivan, The Salvation Army is using off-road transportation to distribute supplies to the worst-hit neighborhoods.
Since it has taken days to clear much of the debris off the road so that automobiles can pass, the group is using utility terrain vehicles to provide food, water, and supplies to those who are most in need in the disaster area.
This, according to volunteer UTV driver Sheliah Gravens, is the proper course of action. Gravens remarked, “It’s what a Christian does.
Salvation Army Sullivan Disaster Response Public Information Officer, Vinal Lee, said, “They are utilized to get into harder-to-reach places that our large mobile kitchen usually can’t get into. We’ve been using these UTVs to get to first responders and survivors to give them meals, hydration, and other items they would need.”
Gravens says this work is difficult, but fulfilling. “People come up and they’re so gracious to you, and you feel like you should be gracious to them for doing what they’re doing, being out in the heat and the dirt and everything,” Gravens said.
When individuals are working so hard they don’t have time to stop and eat, Lee says he is pleased to offer them food.
“We do this work because it matters, because people deserve to be treated with dignity and because of the wind with a mission of the Salvation Army,” Lee said.
In a short period of time, the group, which is operating out of a UTV, has served close to 1500 meals.
