On Sunday, August 2nd, Typhoon Soudelor struck the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. The catastrophic event knocked out electricity on the 48-square-mile island. About 50,000 people live on the island, and most of them live in Saipan, which took the larger hit of the storm.
Adventist Community Service responded right away. Local churches and partnering teams responded to the typhoon by evaluating the situation and providing aid to the families that were affected. More specifically, ACS opened a multi-agency warehouse and with the help of ACS volunteers, were able to set up a distribution pipeline with butane for light & cooking, cleaning supplies, laundry detergent and personal hygiene kits. ACS was able to trail local church members/volunteers on leadership skills on how to operate the warehouse.
Saipan’s Adventist dental clinic and the Adventist school’s damage was minimal and is now functioning. With removed debris, they are able to fully function but are looking at repairing the minimal damage slowly.
ACS has established plans to continue to serve long-term in the community of Saipan and will do so until further notice.
To donate, please go to communityservices.org
