Best Buy donation = love for Okla.

Jun 21, 2013

Add Best Buy to the list of Minnesota residents and companies supporting Salvation Army tornado relief in Oklahoma.

The Bloomington-based retailer has donated all sorts of electronics – laptops, Internet hotspots, TVs and gaming systems – that are helping The Salvation Army improve its service to survivors.

Yes, TVs and gaming systems do help survivors – children, in particular. Families at tornado relief service centers can spend hours waiting for their number to be called. TVs and gaming systems are the perfect remedy for impatient youngsters.

The laptops (pictured) are being used by Salvation Army caseworkers to register families for assistance, track supplies and more.

The Internet hotspots are being used by everyone – staff, survivors, relief workers – at three tornado relief service centers.

“The hotspots are a huge help,” said Donna Bauer, a Twin Cities Salvation Army employee deployed to Oklahoma to provide emotional and spiritual care to survivors. “Everyone has to use their phone for Internet, but the 3G and 4G networks are slow. The hotspots allow anybody to stop by a service center and connect a lot faster.”

Best Buy’s donation supports what has become a gargantuan Salvation Army response. Since May 19, Salvation Army staff and volunteers have spent 21,000 hours providing:

  • 180,000 meals and snacks
  • Prayer with 12,000 survivors
  • 100,000 drinks
  • 4,600 clean-up kits
  • 22,000 hygiene kits

“Best Buy’s help has allowed us to send Oklahoma more love from Minnesota,” said Lt. Col. Robert Thomson, Salvation Army Northern Division Commander. “With the company’s gifts we are serving more tornado survivors and doing so much more efficiently.”

Donate to or learn more about The Salvation Army’s tornado relief efforts.


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