Red Cross "Spirit of America" Kitchen Coming to Area

Saturday, September 20, 2008 - The Beaumont Chapter of the American Red Cross
continues to serve provisions to members of their effected community in
cooperation with local, state, and national partners. As the Red Cross continues
it's assessment of recovery needs; 15 Emergency Response Vehicle serving sites,
1 Drive Through site, and 1Multi-Agency Kitchen site will remain open until
further notice.

This latest list will include The Spirit of America, a premier American Red
Cross mobile kitchen. The Spirit of America is a self-contained, 53-foot trailer
designed to produce as many as 30,000 hot, nutritionally balanced "home style"
meals daily from within heavily impacted disaster areas. Meals prepared in the
mobile kitchen are then loaded on Red Cross Emergency Response Vehicles and
distributed to disaster victims throughout a disaster area.

The "Spirit" can operate anywhere: next to a standing building, in a parking lot
or even in an open field. The unit can function in a stand-alone mode, or be connected to
working community water and electrical systems. It contains potable (fresh)
water tanks and wastewater disposal tanks, four propane tanks and a 65kw
silent-running generator.  The kitchen facilities include three tilt skillets,
two stacked convection ovens, a roll-in-rack oven, an industrial size mixer, hot
water on-demand system, five stainless steel sinks, and a walk-in refrigerator.
The "Spirit" also carries a pressure washer, a fire suppression system, an
electric lift, heating and air conditioning systems, a gas leak detector, and a
winterization package.

The Emergency Response Vehicles will be stationed at the following serving sites
two times a day, moving forward. With the estimated first arrival time is
between 12:00 Noon - 12:30 PM in the afternoon and then following in the evening
between 5:00 PM - 5:30 PM.:

Updated Sites:

EMERGENCY RESPONSE VEHICLE LOCATIONS

Kountze                                   Wildwood                               
Silsbee                       

Mt Corinth Baptist Church           Wildwood Baptist Church            New
Bethel Baptist Church

111 E 5th St.                              98 Cypress Bend                      
420 S 10th St.

Kountze, TX                               Wildwood, TX                            
Silsbee, TX



Rose Hill Acres                        N. Silsbee                               
Groves

Rose Hill Acres Fire Station        Genesis Baptist Church              Van
Buren Elementary School

100 Jordan Rd.                          Hwy 92 N                                 
6300 Van Buren

Lumberton, TX                           Silsbee, TX                               
Groves, TX



Beaumont

Antioch Baptist Church               Dunbar Elementary        Blessed Sacrament
Catholic Church       

3920 W. Cardinal Dr.                  825 Jackson                  799 Porter

Beaumont, TX                            Beaumont, TX                Beaumont, TX



Christ Covenant Church             

6390 N. Major Dr.                                              

Beaumont, TX                                       



LaBelle - Fanette Area                        Nederland                    Port
Neches

Fire Department             First Baptist Church       Hebert Library Parking
Lot

1876 FM 365                             1911 Nederland Ave.      2025 Merriman

Fanette, TX                                Nederland, TX                Port
Neches, TX



Port Arthur

Mt Sinai Baptist Church              Christian Faith Baptist Church

501 W. Thomas Blvd.                 1919 Jefferson Dr.

Port Arthur, TX                           Port Arthur, TX  



The Spirit of America Drive Through site will serve two times a day, moving
forward, with the first time being from 12:00 Noon AM in the afternoon and then
following in the evening at 5:00 PM.

The Spirit of America

1015 East Ave. N

Hwy 327

Silsbee

                       

The Multi-Agency Kitchen site will serve two times a day, moving forward, with
the first time being from 11:30 AM - 2:00 PM in the afternoon and then following
in the evening at 4:30 PM - 6:00 PM.

Beaumont/Multi Agency Kitchen

Bingo Hall

2655 South 11th Street

Beaumont, TX



For those directly affected by the disaster, registering on the Safe and Well
Web site allows them to let loved ones to know that they are safe. The site is
accessible at www.redcross.org <http://www.redcross.org/> . If internet access
is not possible, they can call 1-800-REDCROSS (1-800-733-2767) to register and
follow the prompts for disaster information.