Statement of Tom Jones, Lieutenant Colonel and Secretary,
National Community Relations and Development, Salvation Army, Alexandria, Virginia

Testimony Before the Subcommittee on Oversight
of the House Committee on Ways and Means

Hearing on Response by Charitable Organizations to the Recent Terrorist Attacks

November 8, 2001

The Salvation Army, founded in 1865 in the east end of London, first set foot on American soil in 1880. Eight Salvation Army officers, one man and seven women were sent by the Army's founder, General William Booth, to establish the ministry and service of The Salvation Army in America.

Twenty years later, September 8, 1900, The Salvation Army in the United States formally began its first national disaster response when a hurricane struck Galveston, Texas, killing over 5,000 people and virtually destroying the city.  For the first time, the Army mobilized personnel, volunteers and resources throughout the country to provide prayer, emotional counsel and practical financial and material assistance.  From that moment in time we have never looked back nor failed to immediately respond to any disaster, whether it be fire, flood, storm, earthquake or aviation.  Today, we can add acts of terrorism to that list.

On September 11, 2001 this country was assaulted on numerous fronts.  It began in New York City, just a few blocks away from our roots in Battery Park. From the moment of initial impact at the World Trade Center to the visible sighting of the plane going down in Somerset, Salvation Army personnel and volunteers began to mobilize and were on the scenes of disaster within 45 minutes in all three locations.  While we have developed response procedures that are automatic for hurricanes and tornadoes, there is no blueprint for what we have been through over the past 57 days.  And yet, the results have been rather remarkable.

It may be helpful for you to understand that The Salvation Army does not operate nor maintain a full-time national disaster response team or administrative staff.  We have one Salvation Army officer designated as the National Disaster Services Coordinator and he represents the Salvation Army in a coordinating capacity with FEMA, the FAA and other disaster related non-profit organizations.  Likewise, we have no national fund raising program designated specifically to disaster response.  Whenever disaster strikes, we respond.  We are entirely community based in that response and we remain community based in our fund raising initiatives.  Local Salvation Army personnel take command and provide leadership when disaster strikes and when the public responds with financial support all monies are channeled directly to the point of need without administrative overhead.  Our experience has always been to meet the immediate needs and the American public will usually respond in compassionate support.

We are aware that the key pieces of information you would like to leave with today are how much money has been given to The Salvation Army for this specific disaster response, how much has been spent and for what has it been spent.   And then, you would like to know what our plans are for utilization of the balance of these funds.

I can report to you today that The Salvation Army has received $60,484,323 in contributions from the American public. No donated disaster funds have been spent on  fundraising or public relations expense for the disaster. Therefore, these funds have all been designated for disaster relief in either New York City, the greater Washington, DC area or Western Pennsylvania.  It is our standing policy that all designated funds must be utilized fully as intended by the donor and as a result, the full amount of these funds will be collected from across the United States and channeled appropriately to the three primary disaster sites. 

All Salvation Army disaster funds have been deposited directly into Salvation Army bank accounts, all of which are subject to both internal and external audit procedures conducted annually at every Salvation Army unit throughout the United States.   All Salvation Army operations, including disaster, are conducted under the oversight of Salvation Army officer leadership. In addition, every local Salvation Army operation  is supported by a local advisory board of prominent community leaders. Oversight to national Salvation Army operations is given by a national advisory board of 42 national leaders. The current chairman of the national advisory board is Donald V. Fites, retired CEO of  Caterpillar Inc. The immediate past chairman is Steven S. Reinemund, CEO of PepsiCo and the incoming chairman is Edsel B. Ford II of Ford Motor Company. The disaster services committee of the national advisory board is lead by Marilyn Tucker Quayle, Robert K. Goodwin, James Lee Witt and Vice Admiral Michael P. Kalleres.

Obviously we are still aggressively working to address the immediate needs of those who have been impacted.  There are many services being provided that are highly visible, such as feeding rescue workers, counseling distressed police and firemen, providing financial aid to thousands of families, but I wish to share with you a practical service we provided all across the country and throughout Canada on September 11, 12 and 13.  You will recall the decision that was made to take all commercial planes out of the skies.  They were ordered to land immediately at designated airports, leaving hundreds of thousands of passengers stranded in cities, never intended to visit.  The Salvation Army in many of those cities went to airports and provided free meals, counseling and overnight housing for many stranded travelers.  Properties that we normally use as summer camps for children, were instantly converted into safe shelter and housing for stranded passengers.  We have a report from our friends in Canada of a small community in Newfoundland that tripled its population overnight with stranded air passengers and The Salvation Army became their primary source of food and lodging until they could complete their scheduled journey.

I would like to refer you to the financial and service report that you have been provided because it documents for you our delivery of service to date, as well as our projection of service through the year 2003.  From that report you can easily see that we have served nearly 2 million people over the past eight weeks, and based upon the daily service levels still active in New York City I can assure you we have surpassed the 2 million mark as of this moment.  Nearly 2.5 million meals have been delivered to rescue workers and volunteers and 55,000 individuals have received direct financial assistance for rent, utilities, food, housing and transportation. 

In our efforts to coordinate with FEMA, the local municipalities and other response agencies, it seems that the major portion of our response will be focused upon displaced and unemployed families who have been described as “collateral victims”.  We will continue to assist those who are laboring daily at “ground zero” and we are committed to staying there as long as the City of New York, FEMA and the Medical Examiners Office need us.  We will not depart until the job is done.  But, our primary role now appears to be meeting the immediate financial needs of financially damaged families – the airlines’ employees, hotel employees, small business employees, and those of numerous sectors  –   who have lost their jobs and means of income.

Once again, referring to the report we have provided you, of the $60.4 million contributed, we have spent $8.5 million on immediate needs.  We have projected a budget for the balance of this year through the year 2003 amounting to an additional $53.7 million in direct assistance.   As you can see it is our intent that 100% of all designated funds contributed will be directed to the community based command centers of New York City, New Jersey, Washington DC and Western Pennsylvania for a community led response.  We envision that 20% of these funds will be spent on rescue and clean-up support at the disaster sites and the remaining 80% will be spent on direct financial aid to impacted families.

Mr. Chairman, that provides you and the esteemed members of this committee a brief snapshot of The Salvation Army’s response to the carnage of these terrorist strikes.  It does not reveal the raw emotion of pain and fear and anguish that has altered many lives and our nation.  Time does not permit the sharing of hundreds upon hundreds of stories being told and lives being rescripted.  But it simply identifies the commitment of Salvation Army officers and volunteers from communities in every state of this great land who have responded and remain poised to further respond.  We consider it a sacred privilege to serve America in this way and pledge our continued support and cooperation in whatever way we can.

Thank you. 

The Salvation Army  USA
September 11^th Disaster Report

Income/Expense Analysis
As of 11/05/01

Income by Location
Cash Received

Expenses by Location
Specific Services Given

 Projected Expense Analysis
26 months – November, 2001 through December, 2003

Forecasted Expenses by Location
November, 2001 through December, 2003

Actual Service Delivery Report
From September 11, 2001 through October 31, 2001