Update on what the ALERT guys are doing...

This is direct from their web site:

A team of four ALERT medics is currently in the city of Lafayette, LA, just west of New Orleans. They are relieving the wearied medical personnel who have been working 24-hour shifts. The team went in conjunction with the East Texas Medical Center. They will be providing triage, handling ambulance runs, and assisting with loading and unloading medical choppers.

The team at the Astrodome in Houston has been working non-stop, around the clock. The men have been enlisted to handle a variety of jobs including crowd control, security, crowd care, logistics, and checking-in the refugees. In addition to these tasks, men have been setting up cots and sleeping quarters, unloading buses, and generally doing what they can to keep things in order amidst the chaos at the Astrodome. ALERT men are also stationed at a complex across the street from the Astrodome that is being used to house and feed the refugees.

The ALERT men leaving tomorrow morning will be working with the Friend Ships ministry from Lake Charles, LA. They will be deployed to Gretna, LA, a southern suburb of New Orleans, which is completely surrounded by water and is not receiving necessary food and water. Water and MRE’s will be distributed immediately, then a field kitchen set for hot and healthy meals to be served.

Back here in Big Sandy, the ALERT campus has been opened up, free of charge, to meet the needs of the hurricane refugees headed to East Texas. Families have already begun taking rooms on the campus. Donations are being taken to help feed and care for these displaced people. Several ministry-minded Friend-of-ALERT families have volunteered to come help with the daily needs here on campus related to care and hospitality for the disaster victims.

The response from our Cadet ranks is very encouraging. Though we are not at liberty to take these young men and their fathers into the heart of the disaster area, there continues to be a myriad of ways they are able to be a part of the ministry to victims.

We are excited to have, for the first time, a response from the ladies that have completed our STEP program. Skills Training for Emergency Preparedness is a program for young ladies ages 15 and older held here on the ALERT Academy camps each summer. A team of older STEP ladies is scheduled to relieve an ALERT team at an evacuation center in Nacogdoches, TX, Saturday morning. ALERT was requested to help set up and establish the center and has completed that commitment, but our STEP team has been asked to help staff the center during the next days.

Important note:

Calls have been pouring in from across the country asking how to assist and help ALERT during this time. If the Lord is leading you to help the ALERT ministry, the biggest need is that of cash donations. ALERT is not receiving compensation from outside agencies, and this operation has been fully funded thus far by private donations. The Lord has been so good to this ministry to provide every need through the help of good folks who have been led to give.

As ALERT is asked to take on more responsibility and greater demand is placed on our resources, the need for funding will continue to grow. If you want to contribute, you can do so now online via our safe and secure website, please click here. If you would like to give via phone using your Visa or MasterCard, please contact ALERT at (903) 636-2000, ext. 2255. If you prefer to send a check, you can mail it to ALERT at: One Academy Blvd., Big Sandy, TX 75755. As a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit, ALERT will send you the necessary paperwork to receive a tax deduction for your gift. All gifts specifically earmarked for disaster relief will only be used for this purpose.

What else can you do? Pray. Please keep our men in prayer, and specifically pray the men would remain safe, free from injury or illness, and they would shine Christ’s light to people who have lost everything and see no hope.