San Francisco board member, Craig Arnold, sales director for the UPS’ northern California region, has been working day and night at the Salvation Army’s command center serving as a logistic coordinator and driver in Haiti.

Ever since the disaster struck Haiti, Craig has been using his vacation time to serve, seeing firsthand the havoc and suffering in Port-au-Prince.  According to an interview he did for the UPS blog, Craig says much of his time is spent traveling the precarious roads to and from the Port-au-Prince airport in order to retrieve emergency shipments, relief workers, and medical teams. He has also been integral in helping with operations around The Salvation Army compound, including assisting with the massive feedings that have served more than 24,000 meal kits to Haitians.

UPS provided invaluable help with the Salvation Army in coordinating flights and shipping more than 80,000 pounds of food and water to Haiti through the Dominican Republic.  They’ve been a significant resource in getting our major emergency supply shipments out of our storage warehouse in Miami to on the ground where help is needed most.

More than 700 officers and staff permanently stationed in Haiti are responding to the needs of the people there.  Dozens of Salvation Army disaster response workers and medical teams from the U.S., Canada, the U.K. and other countries have been sent to Haiti and are administering aid.  Assessment teams have been in the country since Friday, January 15, planning a long-term response to help people rebuild their homes and lives.

USA Today featured a story about Craig in their  Sunday (Jan. 24) paper, quoting him on his most recent visit to the Haiti as ” a life-changing experience,” and describing his amazement how Haitians’ “spirit has still been strong, how they don’t give up and how they are still helping each other.”

Thank you, Craig, for your personal involvement in helping to alleviate the needs of Haiti and your unique service to The Salvation Army!