Iconic Salvation Army disaster canteens to receive striking makeover

By: David Ibata

Emergency Disaster Services in May will roll out a new look for Salvation Army mobile feeding units (canteens) and other vehicles, giving them higher visibility and better communicating ways people can contact the Army for help or to give.

Vehicles will bear the message, "Hope Is On the Way," "our new disaster slogan," said Jeff Jellets, territorial emergency disaster services director.

The design results from a cooperative effort by Richards Partners and EDS to come up with a simpler, cleaner design that clearly communicates The Salvation Army is on the scene and ready to serve. The red shield will be prominently displayed; and the EDS web site, HelpSalvationArmy.org, and mobile phone number, 1-800-SALARMY, will be present in big bold letters.

The vehicle itself will feature a bold red-on-white color scheme, and a red-and-white chevron pattern will show to the rear – as with fire engines and other emergency vehicles, to make it stand out to other drivers, especially in dark and stormy weather when visibility is limited.

"There's also a new EDS logo that emphasizes the word, ‘emergency,'" Jellets said. "If a police officer is standing at a barrier, you want that word to be prominent so right away there's recognition that this is an emergency vehicle, a disaster vehicle, as opposed to something else."

One early suggestion was to prominently display the face of a Salvation Army officer, Jellets said. "The problem with that was, all of our canteens are different. The guy's face may be fine on one canteen, while on the next vehicle, that's where the air vent goes."

In the end, simplicity prevailed.

"Also, the old designs had all kinds of words, and Richards said get rid of all that, just emphasize the shield, your brand, your website address," Jellets said. A vehicle will still bear city and state names, for example, but that information will go on the doors, where they're less obtrusive.

The Southern Territory has about 300 EDS vehicles in the field, and 200 to 250 are canteens. The new colors and graphics will be for future vehicle acquisitions, as retrofitting existing vehicles would be very costly.

The Disaster Training Summit, to be held in May in Dallas, Texas, will feature disasters specialist Gordon Graham as keynote speaker, and offer more than 20 certified training courses on emergency management and disaster preparedness from the Army and partner organizations.

Indoor and outdoor exhibits will showcase the Army's fleet of mobile disaster equipment, including mobile kitchens, food service delivery units, field kitchens, satellite communications trailers, command posts and shower trailers. Products, services and new technologies that benefit disaster personnel also will be on hand.

For information, and to register: http://salvationarmydisastertraining.org/