{"id":72717,"date":"2021-06-15T11:46:15","date_gmt":"2021-06-15T15:46:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/?p=72717"},"modified":"2021-06-15T11:46:15","modified_gmt":"2021-06-15T15:46:15","slug":"scientology-volunteer-ministers-help-to-an-island-in-need","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/scientology-volunteer-ministers-help-to-an-island-in-need\/","title":{"rendered":"Scientology Volunteer Ministers: Help to an Island in Need"},"content":{"rendered":"

LOS ANGELES, Calif., June 15, 2021 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — For 16 days, a team of Scientology Volunteer Ministers from Florida, arranged by the Freewinds, the Church of Scientology religious retreat, came to the aid of the people of St. Vincent and the Grenadines.<\/p>\n

\"Scientology
PHOTO CAPTION: Scientology Volunteer Ministers distribute urgently needed supplies to the people of St. Vincent and the Grenadines.<\/em><\/p>\n

The Scientology Volunteer Ministers\u00a0St. Vincent Disaster Response, now completed, brought relief to thousands of residents in need of help, announces the Church of Scientology International.<\/p>\n

When La Soufri\u00e8re Volcano erupted, engulfing the island with pyroclastic flows,\u00a0volcanic ash and rock, it created a humanitarian crisis. Upwards of 16,000 residents who evacuated and thousands more who remained in the red and orange zones were without fresh water, power, and food.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like a desert, it\u2019s desolate, it\u2019s apocalyptic,\u201d\u00a0said Ralph Gonsalves<\/a>, prime minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines.\u00a0Unable to cope with the humanitarian effort needed without substantial assistance, he reached out for help, saying, \u201cWe are really at the midnight hour of need.\u201d<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Freewinds<\/em><\/a>,\u00a0the Church of Scientology religious retreat and humanitarian ship in the Caribbean, immediately responded to the call for help. The ship sent a 40-foot container to Kingstown,\u00a0the capital, chief port, and main commercial center of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. And to help ensure these and other urgently needed supplies reached those in need, the\u00a0Freewinds\u00a0arranged a team of\u00a0volunteers.<\/p>\n

\"Scientology<\/em><\/p>\n

Smoke continued to billow from the summit of\u00a0La Soufri\u00e8re as the team of Florida-based Scientology Volunteer Ministers landed in St. Vincent. Everything was grey: The sky, the streets, the hillsides. Ash overwhelmed the islands.<\/p>\n

On arriving, these Scientologists, veterans of numerous disaster response missions, immediately coordinated their activities with other nonprofits.<\/p>\n

\u201cWorking with the Red Cross, we brought support to the leeward side of the island\u2014the first relief they received since the eruptions,\u201d said the leader of the La Soufri\u00e8re Scientology Volunteer Ministers Response Team.\u00a0That day, they handed out six pallets of water in gallon jugs, 36 tool kits that included shovels, hammers and crowbars, 300 hygiene kits, blankets, and some 600 masks.<\/p>\n

Coordinating with the National Emergency Management Organisation (NEMO), the Scientology Volunteer Ministers found that although supplies were pouring in to the island, they had to be organized for distribution. The Scientologists worked in the warehouse, making it possible for four tons of supplies to reach those who needed them.<\/p>\n

The Scientologists were surprised to find that despite the warm weather of the island, one of the most needed items was blankets. \u201cTheir mattresses were so covered with ash that clean blankets were the only way to have something to sleep on,\u201d said the lead Volunteer Minister.<\/p>\n

To reach the north of the island, the Scientology team rented a motorboat. In the towns of Owia and Fancy,\u00a0the Volunteer Ministers distributed water and supplies to the residents who had stayed. The towns were not only blanketed in ash, they had also been battered by rocks of all sizes from pebbles to boulders that collapsed roofs and tore up the roads.<\/p>\n

In Georgetown, residents told the Scientology Volunteer Ministers that in the month since the volcano erupted, theirs was the first aid to reach them.<\/p>\n

In all, the volunteers distributed more than 22 tons of supplies including enough food for 7,000 meals. And they let the\u00a0Vincentians know\u00a0that they had not been forgotten.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey have a special hand signal here,\u201d said the lead Scientology Volunteer Minister. \u201cIt\u2019s a closed fist with the thumb out to the side. It means \u2018respect.\u2019 Pretty much everywhere we drove, people were making this sign for us, shouting \u2018thank you for what you are doing, thank you for being here.\u2019\u201d The Scientology Volunteer Ministers want to share that thanks to those who made it all possible by donating goods and funds to help the island recover.<\/p>\n

The Church of Scientology\u00a0Volunteer Ministers program<\/a>\u00a0is a religious social service created in the mid-1970s by humanitarian L. Ron Hubbard. Learn more: https:\/\/www.volunteerministers.org\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A Volunteer Minister\u2019s mandate is to be \u201ca person who helps his fellow man on a volunteer basis by restoring truth and spiritual values to the lives of others.\u201d Their creed: \u201cA Volunteer Minister does not shut his eyes to the pain, evil and injustice of existence. Rather, he is trained to handle these things and help others achieve relief from them and new personal strength as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

L. Ron Hubbard is the Founder of the Scientology Religion and Mr. David Miscavige is the religion\u2019s ecclesiastical leader.<\/p>\n

MULTIMEDIA:<\/strong><\/p>\n

[1] https:\/\/www.Send2Press.com\/300dpi\/21-0615s2p-cos-stvincent1-300dpi.jpg<\/a><\/p>\n

[2] https:\/\/www.Send2Press.com\/300dpi\/21-0615s2p-cos-stvincent2-300dpi.jpg<\/a><\/p>\n

PHOTO CAPTION: Scientology Volunteer Ministers distribute urgently needed supplies to the people of St. Vincent and the Grenadines.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LOS ANGELES, Calif., June 15, 2021 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — For 16 days, a team of Scientology Volunteer Ministers from Florida, arranged by the Freewinds, the Church of Scientology religious retreat, came to the aid of the people of St. Vincent and the Grenadines.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8949,"featured_media":72715,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[596,12804,1,10,187,608],"tags":[16301,16299,16303,16300,16302],"class_list":["post-72717","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-global-aid-news","category-ap","category-business-news","category-california-news","category-los-angeles-news","category-religion-news","tag-freewinds","tag-la-soufriere-volcano","tag-religious-social-service","tag-scientology-volunteer-ministers","tag-st-vincent-and-the-grenadines","has-post-title","has-post-date","no-post-category","no-post-tag","no-post-comment","has-post-author"],"acf":[],"views":4517,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72717","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8949"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72717"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72717\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72715"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72717"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72717"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72717"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}