HUMANITARIAN AID WAREHOUSE BURNS TO THE GROUND:
Millions Of Pounds of Food Collected For Hungry Families Is Lost
HOUSTON, June 20, 2006 – A 64,000-square-foot warehouse containing food and medical supplies caught fire and burned to the ground Monday in Pearland, Texas. The structure, operated by the Christian Alliance for Humanitarian Aid, stored food to feed hungry families in Houston as well as 53 countries.
The Christian Alliance, a Matthew 25 ministry, is an integral member of a compassion coalition headed by Somebody Cares America. “The Christian Alliance is an important ministry in the Houston area,” said Doug Stringer, president of Somebody Cares America. “People will be missing meals if the supplies are not replenished.”
According to Curtis Wilke, the Christian Alliance’s executive director, the warehouse and provisions are a total loss. However, like the Phoenix rising from the ashes, the Christian Alliance is already searching for a new location and refusing to allow the catastrophe to end their humanitarian ministry.
The Christian Alliance is a disaster relief entity serving with 2,000 churches and church organizations around the world. It began with Jess and Fran Stokely, members of First United Methodist Church in Houston, Texas, and gained nonprofit status eight years ago this week. Since that time, the alliance has distributed millions of pounds of relief support to the poor, hungry, sick and homeless every year including over one million meals sent to New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
Somebody Cares America set up a phone bank to take donations from people and organizations willing to help the alliance continue to feed the hungry in the coming weeks. The Somebody Cares America website is www.somebodycares.org and their phone number is 713-621-1498 . “So many of the people we serve don’t have access to the media,” says Wilke. “All they know is that we show up to feed them every other week.”
Somebody Cares America is a Houston-based international compassion outreach ministry that is coordinating disaster relief efforts among dozens of churches and humanitarian organizations.
Editors: For additional information or interview requests, please call Giles Hudson with A. Larry Ross Communications at 972-267-1111