Salvation Army gets £250,000 for hurricane relief

The Salvation Army received a £250,000 donation gift from Shell Oil Company and Motiva Enterprises LLC on Monday to be used towards immediate and long-term disaster relief in the aftermath of Hurricanes Gustav and Ike.

The gift is part of a larger £2 million donation split between The Salvation Army, the American Red Cross, the Gulf Coast Relief Fund and other community organisations.

"We are incredibly grateful to Shell and Motiva for this generous gift," said Salvation Army National Commander Israel L Gaither. "Hurricane Ike in particular led to the Army's largest disaster response operation since Hurricane Katrina - so corporate donations like this become all the more critical."

The Shell Oil and Motiva Enterprise gift adds to the ministry's corporate donation list, which includes Wal-Mart's, Lilly, BP, and Pepsi. Counting donations given through the internet, White Mail, and other methods, The Salvation Army has collected more than £6 million.

But the Christian ministry noted that it has spent over £7 million on hurricane relief in 2008 already. The Salvation Army has responded to five major storms and provided 1 million meals during this year's hurricane season.

In addition to the monetary donation, Shell and Motiva have also provided fuel to emergency response organisations in affected areas.

Currently, The Salvation Army has more than 100 canteens and other disaster response vehicles deployed to offer services in Texas and elsewhere.

Southern Baptist disaster relief teams have also been serving in areas impacted by Hurricane Gustav and Ike. The ministry's volunteers have served 3.7 million hot meals in Texas and Louisiana.

Church World Service is working to assess damages, gut out homes, and clean-up the mess in Galveston, Texas, which bore the brunt of Hurricane Ike's 110-mph winds.

Most residents of the island city of Galveston are reportedly still living elsewhere, according to CWS.