Matthew 25 Positions Response Assets as Catastrophic Hurricane Tracks toward the Florida Coast

SEPTEMBER 27, 2022  Blue Ash, OH – Matthew 25: Ministries, a humanitarian aid and disaster relief organization headquartered in Blue Ash, OH is prepared and ready to respond to Hurricane Ian once it makes landfall in the U.S. later this week.  Ian made landfall in Western Cuba on Tuesday, September 27 as a Category 3 storm with sustained winds of 125 mph, and is predicted to gain strength and become an even stronger Category 4 hurricane before striking the west central coast of Florida late Wednesday or early Thursday, bringing damaging winds and potentially devastating storm surge of 5–10 feet and flooding rains of 12–24 inches.

Matthew 25: Ministries is carefully monitoring the storm and has deployed their assessment vehicle to provide a rapid evaluation of the situation after Ian makes landfall. The assessment team is safely staged outside the path of the storm, ready to begin immediate need and situational evaluations once they can gain safe access to the impacted communities. Matthew 25 is preparing additional Disaster Response vehicles for a possible deployment to the impacted areas in order to provide services and supplies to those affected. Matthew 25 is also in communication with partner organizations throughout the projected path of the storm to plan shipments of aid in order to meet the most urgent needs and help as many people as possible.

“This hurricane has the potential to cause widespread catastrophic damage,” said Matthew 25’s CEO Tim Mettey. “It is critical that people in its path observe all evacuation orders. As soon as the path and impact of the storm becomes clear, Matthew 25 will activate our response. Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone who may be affected by this disaster.”

Matthew 25’s Disaster Response Fleet includes two Tide Loads of Hope Mobile Units that can complete up to 300 loads of laundry a day, an Ice Unit that can produce up to 10,000 pounds of ice a day, and the Duracell PowerForward truck equipped to carry as many as 20,000 Duracell batteries as well as on-board charging stations for mobile devices. The fleet also includes a Clean-Up Trailer and two panel trucks co-branded with Procter & Gamble and Cintas, which are loaded with P&G personal care kits, Cintas first aid and safety kits, and other relief supplies.

Matthew 25 has responded to multiple disasters in 2022, including Hurricane Fiona, flooding in Pakistan, flooding in Eastern Kentucky and Virginia, the Goshen, OH tornadoes, the March tornado outbreak, and the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine, and is continuing to provide long-term disaster recovery to 2021 disasters such as the December tornado outbreak in Kentucky. So far in 2022, Matthew 25: Ministries has shipped approximately 800 truckloads of aid (approximately 17 million pounds) to partners domestically and internationally and helped approximately 20 million people.

For the most current information on Matthew 25: Ministries’ activities, please visit their website or follow Matthew 25 on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. For more in-depth information about Matthew 25: Ministries’ humanitarian aid and disaster relief efforts, please contact Michelle Jones mjones@m25m.org.

Matthew 25: Ministries accepts cash, check, credit card and online donations for ongoing humanitarian aid and disaster relief programs, as well as product donation support. Matthew 25 also welcomes volunteers six days a week at their Blue Ash facility.

ABOUT MATTHEW 25: MINISTRIES: Matthew 25: Ministries rescues and reuses approximately 15,000,000 pounds of products each year and redistributes them to the poorest of the poor and disaster victims. Each year, Matthew 25: Ministries impacts the lives of more than 20,000,000 individuals throughout the United States and around the world.  Matthew 25 is ranked on Forbes’ 2021 list of the Largest U.S. Charities. Matthew 25 is also highly ranked among more than 3,700 four-star charities on Charity Navigator. Matthew 25: Ministries is accredited by the Better Business Bureau through the “Wise Giving Alliance Standards.” For more information, or to schedule an interview, contact Michelle Jones mjones@m25m.org at Matthew 25: Ministries (513) 793-6256, or visit www.m25m.org.