Much has been said, over the past week, about relief organizations such as the Red Cross and the Salvation Army. But one major organization which, as far as I know, has received no significant recognition in the media is the Southern Baptist Convention’s Disaster Relief organization which is part of the North American Mission Board. What many people do not realize is that the Southern Baptists have the third-largest disaster relief organization in North America (and possibly in the world).
The disaster relief response includes more than 600 mobile units (feeding, chainsaw, mud-out, command, communication, child care, shower, laundry, water purification) and more than 30,000 trained volunteers, including chaplains. You can read about some of the early response here.
As I understand it, because the infrastructure for disaster relief is already in place and paid for by the convention, 100% of money donated to this cause goes directly to those in need. Here are some facts:
| Number of Disaster Responses | 193 |
| Volunteers Who Responded | 15,032 |
| Meals Prepared | 3,500,596 |
| Children Cared For | 869 |
| Buildings Repaired | 2,683 |
| Yards Cleaned | 10,704 |
| Showers Provided | 91,024 |
| Laundry Loads Cleaned | 7,268 |
| Gallons of Water Purified | 1,520 |
| Total Trained Volunteers | 30,840 |
| New Volunteers Trained | 5,360 |
| New Units Placed in Service | 113 |
Recent Response:
| Feeding Units | 97 |
| Airlift | 8 |
| Class A | 45 |
| Class B | 33 |
| Class C | 11 |
| Recovery Units | 384 |
| Chainsaw | 86 |
| Mud-out | 36 |
| Rebuild | 5 |
| Combination | 257 |
| Communication | 13 |
| Child Care | 16 |
| Shower | 36 |
| Laundry | 3 |
| Water Purification | 14 |
| Other | 23 |
| Total units in the national fleet | 586 |
