SYRACUSE, NY, Oct. 9, 2008 -- The Salvation Army this week deployed three Emergency Disaster Services (EDS) teams from Syracuse, Jamestown and Batavia to assist hurricane victims and rescue workers in Texas.

The three-person teams are staffing Mobile Disaster Canteens in the Galveston area for two weeks, serving some 1,000 meals a day and working 14-hour shifts, said Leslie Vattimo, EDS director for The Salvation Army’s Empire State Division.

The Syracuse team includes Theresa Para, an employee at Divisional Headquarters in Syracuse; Gerald Pierce, an Owego Service Unit volunteer, and Charles Jamieson, a volunteer with the Olean Salvation Army.

The Jamestown team includes John Kellom of Jamestown, Johnie Miller of Jamestown, and Debbie Barham of Cassadagua.

The Batavia team includes Donald and Nancy Morris of Batavia, and Harold Anglovich of Olean.

In addition, Barbara Janicki, an employee with The Salvation Army’s Buffalo Area Services, joins “an administration team made up of people from all over the Northeast,” Vattimo said. “She is serving as finance and admin chief for The Salvation Army operation in Galveston.”

The three-person teams deployed Oct. 6, and Janicki deployed Oct. 7.

Entering what The Salvation Army calls the “rehab phase,” Vattimo noted, the teams provide food, water and, as needed, emotional and spiritual care. The three-person teams from upstate New York run the canteens and are joined by a fourth person trained in emotional and spiritual care.

“The Salvation Army has over 100 disaster canteens down there,” Vattimo said. “Many people don’t realize how devastating the conditions still are there.”

 Noting the teams are among the newest to be trained, and the second to be deployed, from the Empire State Division, Vattimo said: “All have been trained in Emergency Disaster Services, Incident Command System, First Aid/CPR. Some have been additionally trained in emergency Food Service. Also, the Jamestown team completed advanced training as a Community Emergency Response Team (CERT).” A team from Hornell just returned from a two-week deployment.

Vattimo said the Empire State Division has been conducting disaster training around the state for people interested in joining an EDS team from their local community.

“It’s a real community collaboration,” Vattimo noted. “The people who help us as EDS volunteers are the army behind The Salvation Army.”

The Empire State Division encompasses 4 Area Services, 47 Corps and 170 Volunteer Service Units in 48 upstate counties.

Jamestown Team: Johnie Miller, Debbie Barham and John Kellom.