Founding Church of Scientology Hosts Disaster Response Open House

WASHINGTON, August 22, 2017 (Newswire.com) - In honor of World Humanitarian Day, the Founding Church of Scientology of Washington D.C. held an open house Aug. 19 to honor volunteers who help others in times of disaster.

Rev. Sue Taylor, National Director of the Churches of Scientology Disaster Response Organization (CSDR) briefed those attending on the help provided by the Scientology Volunteer Ministers to survivors of tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes and floods, from distributing food, water and other emergency supplies to manning shelters, carrying out cleanups, hauling out debris, and helping people find personal documents and valuables after a tornado has destroyed their homes. "Of course our main activity is spiritual and emotional care," said Rev. Taylor. "Volunteer Ministers are there to listen and help, but they are trained in many areas and will assist with whatever is needed."

Ms. Wendi Hayden, Red Cross National Capital Area Disaster Program Manager, spoke of Red Cross programs in D.C. to aid and stabilize families after personal disasters such as single-family home fires. The Red Cross is also installing 100,000 smoke detectors free of charge in homes nationwide. The American Red Cross is the nation's largest blood collection organization, supplying more than 40 percent of the blood and blood products used in the country. Another important program is their training of elementary school children to be prepared for disasters.

The Church's Director of Volunteer Activities talked about Scientology assists—techniques developed by Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard that address the spiritual and emotional factors in stress and trauma. Volunteer Ministers use assists to help disaster victims, and they also provide assists to firefighters, police, and other first responders who spend hours working under grueling conditions when disaster strikes. Those they help this way routinely tell the Volunteer Ministers that assists help relieve their aches and exhaustion so they can carry on refreshed.

A Volunteer Minister demonstrated how to perform an assist and invited anyone wishing to learn more to visit the Volunteer Ministers website for free online training on these techniques and 18 other valuable tools for helping others.

For more information visit the Volunteer Ministers website at www.volunteerministers.org.

Source: ScientologyNews.org