Contact: Bill Harrison
Vice President, Public Relations
American Red Cross, Greater Richmond Chapter
Office: 804.780.2256 § Cell: 804.396.0162
Email: harrisonb@usa.redcross.org
www.greaterrichmond.redcreoss.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 3, 2008
American Red Cross “Spirit of America” cooks as many as 30,000 meals a day for disaster victims
You are invited to see this state of the art kitchen-on-wheels at NASCAR races
RICHMOND, Va.—The Spirit of America, an American Red Cross mobile kitchen, will be part of a Red Cross display at the NASCAR races this weekend at the Richmond International Raceway. It will be located in the midway area of the track. Tours are available Friday, Sept. 5 from 10 a.m.-7:30 p.m. and Saturday, Sept. 6 from 10 a.m.-7 p.m.
The Red Cross booth will also include information on blood donation and hurricane preparedness.The Spirit of America is a self-contained, 53-foot trailer designed to produce as many as 30,000 hot, nutritionally balanced “home style” meals daily from within heavily impacted disaster areas. Meals prepared in the mobile kitchen are then loaded on Red Cross Emergency Response Vehicles and distributed to disaster victims throughout a disaster area.
The “Spirit” can operate anywhere: next to a standing building, in a parking lot or even in an open field. The unit can function in a stand-alone mode, or be connected to working community water and electrical systems. It contains potable (fresh) water tanks and wastewater disposal tanks, four propane tanks and a 65kw silent-running generator. The kitchen facilities include three tilt skillets, two stacked convection ovens, a roll-in-rack oven, an industrial size mixer, hot water on-demand system, five stainless steel sinks, and a walk-in refrigerator. The “Spirit” also carries a pressure washer, a fire suppression system, an electric lift, heating and air conditioning systems, a gas leak detector, and a winterization package.
Editor’s Note: If you would like to tour the Spirit of America mobile kitchen, contact Bill Harrison to make an appointment. You can reach Harrison at one of the numbers listed above.
Posted by wcoates 
