Haven during a crisis

Heat of the kitchen: Major Ed prepares another meal with his team of volunteers.

Wednesday, 6.08pm: it is the second day of the civic emergency in Maple Creek and supper has been served at The Salvation Army.
A team of about 20 volunteers under Major Ed Dean’s direction took part in the mammoth task of feeding up to 200 people.
On the menu was turkey casserole and salad, which prompted such comments as “absolutely fantastic”, “delicious” and “I must learn the recipe”.
“To serve so many people requires a lot of volunteers,” says Major Ed. “The turkeys had been intended for another meal. However, once this emergency unfolded yesterday and we knew we would be the warming centre, the turkeys went into the oven.
“So, they were cooked and now we have turkey casserole. We have also already made turkey soup for tomorrow’s lunch.”
Major Ed is experienced at adapting to fast-changing circumstances and meeting challenges as they arise. With The Salvation Army overnight becoming a sanctuary for hundreds without power, those challenges are many, from providing food, water and warmth, to offering a charging station for devices and somewhere to sleep.
“It has been a full house,” he says. “We have been very busy. I would say we have charged more than 100 phones and tablets today.
“We are very grateful to the RM of Maple Creek that has brought in this 25,000-watt generator so we can keep the coolers and freezer going. So we can keep the lights on and keep the furnace operating. So that people can come in, warm up and have a hot meal.
“A great team of volunteers have come alongside us to help prepare meals. We started last evening with meatball soup and sandwiches. We had pancakes and sausages for breakfast this morning, we had ham sandwiches and vegetable soup for lunch, and then tonight, as you know, we had a turkey casserole and salad.”
Among the volunteers has been Rev. Michele Rowe, pastrix at Maple Creek United Church.
“She was part of the team that cooked that casserole this afternoon, enabling us to offer both regular and gluten-free options.
“We also had salad from the Pioneer Co-Op and are ever so grateful for their donation. They didn’t have a generator, so we made sure their salad didn’t get wasted; it got used.
“Stuff like salad only lasts so long before it has to be disposed of. Otherwise, it starts to wilt. So, with us having a walk-in fridge we were able to use it today.
“Tomorrow, if needed, we will be here for people. There were a few who slept here last night. Cots and blankets are available, and it is warm. This morning they were all greeted with coffee.”
Major Ed says Tony Goode, the Town’s interim Chief Administrative Officer, a member of the emergency planning team, had visited the “warming station” and left impressed.
“He was amazed at how things have come together here. For instance, firefighters tonight delivered hot meals to Southview Manor and Sunglo, and to Creekside Estates, making sure seniors got fed. All those meals had to be packaged into take-outs.”
Major Ed is proud of that fact that food is served on eco-friendly dishes, paper plates and soup bowls, which will break down in the landfill.
“And so it’s almost like we had planned for this emergency, because we had bought our supplies a few weeks ago, what we would need in the weeks, possibly a month, to come. Everything has been on hand and we have not run out of essentials.”
Those calling The Salvation Army and offering food from their homes should not take offence if such offers are declined, says Major Ed.
“We are a commercial kitchen and there are very tight guidelines as to what we can and cannot use on a disaster site or a warming site such as this.
“I do want to say thank you to the community around us for offering food to us, but understand that sometimes we are restricted by health and safety rules.”
Major Ed adds: “We are so fortunate here that our freezers have not thawed, nor our fridge. They are running 24/7. The Co-Op last night gave us a bunch of cold cuts and stuff like that and we are able to use them in sandwiches because we have a fridge that is keeping things cold.”
Major Ed says Salvation Army centres outside Maple Creek have offered to help in the relief effort.
“The Salvation Army is a large organization. We have facilities in places like England or Newfoundland, but we are still one organization. We are one Salvation Army. If we need personnel, we can call and say we need personnel to support us here.”
Fortunately, Maple Creek is blessed with a terrific team of volunteers prepared to put in extra hours and effort, says Major Ed. “No, I’m not working” has not been part of their vocabulary.

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