Spirit of Service Strong after South Island Earthquake

The Salvation Army was quick to mobilise when a 7.1 magnitude earthquake—the largest quake in New Zealand since 1931—rocked Canterbury at 4:35 am on Saturday 4 September.

Initial efforts focused on feeding and reassuring terrified residents and supporting hard-working emergency services personnel. Spirits were buoyed on the evening of Tuesday 7 September when Prime Minister John Key visited the Addington welfare centre. Mr Key took his turn serving dinner alongside the Salvation Army catering crew.

The Army’s work has since moved into a mid-term recovery phase, with the addition of a team of counsellors, door-to-door delivery of thousands of care packages, and strategic collaboration with other NGOs and Government agencies. Christchurch mayor Bob Parker has thanked The Salvation Army for ‘stepping in and helping those in most need’.

South Island Divisional Commander Major Clive Nicolson is proud of the spirit of service he has seen Salvationists demonstrate. ‘Despite tiredness, the morale of Salvationists remains high,’ he said. ‘We are called to serve in just such times as these, but we sense that our work has just begun. This disaster will require our support not just for weeks but for months to come.

‘I am thankful for the prayers, messages of support and offers of practical help in what is the biggest Salvation Army response to any New Zealand disaster.’

Welfare response

In the week immediately after the quake, The Salvation Army served around 1800 meals per day from welfare centres set up at the Addington Raceway, Linwood College and Burnside High School. Rotating teams of around 50 Salvationists from Sydenham, Linwood and Christchurch City Corps, along with other volunteers, staffed the centres. Under a formal partnership with the Ministry of Civil Defence, The Salvation Army’s responsibility after a disaster is to provide catering support, with the addition of other services as requested by authorities.

Major Rex Cross, Divisional Emergency Services Coordinator, said those coming to the welfare centres needed constant reassurance for the first hour or so. Children were particularly scared and wanted their parents close at all times. ‘But there is a great community spirit’, he said. ‘We are extremely grateful for the cooperation between agencies and the tremendous community response, with food donations coming in from members of the public keen to help.’

The Salvation Army also supplied food parcels from the centres, including a bulk consignment for members of the Samoan Seventh Day Adventist Church, who were sheltering in their church building. The Salvation Army secured warehousing and refrigeration facilities to meet increasing demand for food parcels.

Salvation Army welfare support will shift to Community Ministries centres as the relief effort moves to a recovery focus and welfare centres close. A huge increase in food parcel demand is being experienced, with 180 parcels given out on Monday 13 September.

Rangiora Corps established a welfare centre at the Kaiapoi Rugby Club hall during the first week. It cared for around 150 residents of the township, which is 17 km north of Christchurch and was hard hit by the quake.

Care packages

Kaiapoi was the first area to receive the Salvation Army care packages. Twenty-five Westpac staff packed 150 packages, which were delivered on Monday 13 September by staff from The Salvation Army and World Vision NZ. Major Ross said that many Kaiapoi residents received the packages with tears of gratitude.

The care packages include food, personal hygiene and cleaning products and confectionary. They also contained the offer of further assistance, including counselling and advocacy.

Public Relations Secretary Major Robbie Ross, in Christchurch to provide logistical support for welfare provision, said the packages were to let residents know people cared about their plight and that support was there if they required it. ‘Most people have never before needed a food parcel, bedding or clothing, counselling or advocates to help them deal with officialdom, so the care packages are a way to say the Sallies are here to help out at no cost and with no strings attached.’ There were plans for up to 10,000 care packages, he said.

Westpac provided funds towards purchasing items and packaging, with some donated items also used. Most purchases were sourced from outside Canterbury so that already-stretched grocery supplies did not come under more pressure, explained Major Ross.

As the quake response entered its second week, World Vision NZ volunteers were also staffing Salvation Army phone lines from 7 am to 10 pm, with Salvation Army personnel taking calls after these hours.

Counselling support

A study of 500 people by the Welfare Advisory Group reported that 40 per cent stated their first priority of need was counselling. The Ministry of Social Development (MSD) announced funding for counselling of earthquake victims, with The Salvation Army one of its lead agencies, alongside Victim Support. Health authorities and other, smaller agencies are also part of the counselling network.

At the end of the first week, 12 counsellors from Salvation Army addiction centres were operating from earthquake welfare centres as well as the Army’s Community Ministries centres. Community Ministries Secretary Major Ian Hutson, who is directing the Army’s counselling response, said the number of counsellors was expected to climb to 35 within three weeks, with people rotated weekly to avoid burnout. ‘Some people will simply want to vent their emotions,’ he said, ‘but for many, the full emotional impact may not surface for weeks or months.’

Federated Farmers asked The Salvation Army to provide counselling for distressed farmers. For those also hit by the collapse of South Canterbury Finance, this is a second crisis in close succession.

Counsellors from the two Australian territories are helping their Kiwi colleagues. The first group of 10, six from the Australian Eastern Territory and four from the Australia Southern Territory, arrived at Christchurch Airport on Monday 13 September. Members of the group helped Australian townships after the devastating 2009 bushfires. Some were part of a Salvation Army initiative to combat depression and support suicide prevention in rural Australia.

The Salvation Army’s counsellors will operate out of its Community Ministries centres and will also be mobile in the community, moving out to areas of greatest need. 

Earthquake appeal

On the day the quake struck, Territorial Commander Commissioner Bell launched The Salvation Army Canterbury Earthquake Appeal, asking for donations to strengthen The Salvation Army’s long-term commitment to helping people get back on their feet.

‘No matter how prepared a nation is for an earthquake, there is always great fear, anxiety and disruption of life afterwards,’ he said. ‘Many people have lost possessions and their housing is not secure. We are praying for these people and for those who are helping them cope, including our own people on the ground.’

Within hours of the appeal’s launch, Westpac committed $1 million to the Westpac Canterbury Care Fund, naming The Salvation Army as its senior partner. Westpac CEO George Frazis survived Cyclone Tracy in Darwin, Australia, when he was nine and wanted to give back to another traumatised community. BNZ donated $250,000.

‘The Salvation Army will work with the community to ensure this money makes a real difference to those affected by this devastating earthquake,’ said Commissioner Bell. ‘It is our privilege and our responsibility to work with the Canterbury community in such difficult circumstances.’

Donate to The Salvation Army ‘Canterbury Earthquake Appeal’

• Freephone: 0800 53 00 00
• donate online
• By Post: ‘The Salvation Army, PO Box 27 001 Marion Square, Wellington 6141, New Zealand’

Please specify that your donation is for the 'Canterbury Earthquake Appeal'

Thank you for your support.