The Salvation Army Greater New York Division

Need Knows No Season

www.salvationarmy-newyork.org

Where would you like to go?

Departments

GNY Music

Planned Giving

Social Services for Families and Adults

Emergency Disaster Services

The Salvation Army Responds to Manhattan Building Collapse

Members and volunteers of the Salvation Army Emergency
Disaster Services serving thirsty Firefighters.

On the morning of Monday, July 10, an explosion occurred at 34 East 62nd Street between Madison and Park Avenues which brought down a four story Upper East Side townhouse.

The building collapse, explosion and fire injured 15 people, including 10 fire fighters, and snarled New York City's morning rush hours. The blaze intensified quickly to a six-alarm fire around 10:20am with over 44 trucks and apparatus and nearly 250 firefighters on the scene.

The Greater New York Division extends their sincere appreciation to all of the staff and volunteers for their speedy response and support during the incident and dedication to volunteering.

Over 750 people were served, consisting of responders, senior police officials, bomb squad investigators and staff from New York's Office of Emergency Management (OEM). The Commissioner of OEM, Mr. Joe Bruno, and Chief of Department for the New York City Fire Department, Salvatore Cassano, both expressed their appreciation and gratitude for the excellent work provided by the Greater New York Disaster Services teams.
Newspapers and wire media picked up several images of The Salvation Army EDS staff and volunteers doing the most good.

TWA Flight 800 10th Anniversary
Memorial Service

On Monday, July 17, the Suffolk Service Extension office coordinated refreshments for the 10th Anniversary Memorial Service at Smith Point Park for the 230 people who perished when TWA Flight 800 exploded off the South Shore in 1996. Captain Colette Masom, Riverhead Corps officer along with Jerry Johns from the Nassau Extension office, the staff from Blue Point and Philomena Genatempo (a volunteer at the Blue Point office) served all afternoon, providing cold drinks, fruit, cheese and crackers, cookies and snacks to more than 1,000 people in attendance. Governor Pataki along with dignitaries from the U.S. and France spoke and media from all over covered the event. The families who were in attendance were most appreciative of the service that we provided. We thank them for letting us serve.

Governor George E. Pataki

Major Dalberg

Vladimir Pozner

Renowned journalist visits The Salvation Army Briarwood shelter

On August 4, 2006 the international spotlight shone on The Salvation Army’s Briarwood Family Residence in Queens when Russia’s most notable journalist, Vladimir Pozner, interviewed staff and clients of the homeless shelter.

U.S. audiences know Pozner for his guest appearances on major network news programs during the later years of the Cold War and for co-hosting a CNBC talk show with Phil Donahue in the 1990s.

So what was the two-time Emmy Award winner doing in Briarwood? Pozners’ latest project is a television documentary which explores the nuances of American culture.

Pozner, who grew up in New York, feels an obligation to improve Russians’ superficial understanding of the U.S. “What you have is a stereotype,” he said about general perceptions of Americans. “What we are going to do is show the soul and the heart of American culture.”

In order to achieve his goal of accurately portraying life in the States, Pozner will spend more than two months touring the nation with his partner Ivan Urgant--whose recent credits include hosting the equivalent to America idol--and a modest film crew.

Briarwood was one of the first stops on the tour, which will include trips to quintessential landmarks such as The Empire States Building and interviews with icons such as Bill Gates and Ted Turner.

The filmmakers used the Briarwood Shelter, a temporary home to 91 needy families at a time, as a window into one aspect of American society, and were impressed with the clean, organized environment they found.

“I find it hard to accept that in a country with such wealth there are people who don’t have homes,” said Pozner. “But the upkeep of this place is $2.3 million and that’s a lot. When all is said and done it looks like Briarwood staff really care.”

“Little Golden America” will air on First Russian Television Channel in 2007. Salvation Army officers hope that the program will familiarize Russians with the Army’s mission and help further humanitarian efforts in the area.

-Caitlin Smith

Hit Counter