INDIANAPOLIS — The Salvation Army will develop a training program for volunteers from faith-based groups responding to disasters after receiving a $4.66 million grant from the Lilly Endowment.
The program will include a range of courses to help volunteers understand various disasters and how they can respond by managing food services, offering spiritual care and providing emergency shelter. The courses, which will address terrorism and mass casualties, also aim to help volunteers perform under high-stress conditions.
“The Salvation Army — and indeed the entire faith-based community — is very grateful to Lilly Endowment for such exceptional support of disaster relief,” said Commissioner John Busby, national commander of the evangelical Protestant denomination, in a statement.
“We are thrilled to have this valuable opportunity to work together and to achieve a vast improvement in our effectiveness.”
The Salvation Army will partner with other faith-based groups on the program, including Adventist Community Services, Christian Reformed World Relief Committee, Church World Service, Friends Disaster Service, the Southern Baptist Convention and the United Methodist Committee on Relief.
International groups that will be involved include World Vision and Lutheran World Federation.
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