Scientology Volunteer Ministers helped a region devastated by wildfires cope with this unprecedented disaster. 

Teams of Scientology Volunteer Ministers responded to the needs of villages ravaged by one of the worst wildfires in decades that destroyed nearly 50,000 acres of woodland and farmland and displacing some 1,500 people. Unlike most disasters these volunteers have responded to, however, here, not only was aid needed for those displaced by the fires, but the livestock also needed help.

 

They took on the task of shoveling more than four tons of barley into 150 55-pound sacks. Each sack contained enough grain to feed a cow for a week or a sheep for 4 to 5 weeks. 

The volunteers also worked with the Red Cross, unloading trucks of donated food and delivering it to local families. 

Out of concern for the health of the community, the volunteers offered to sanitize a local grain mill and the rural police station. New cases of COVID-19 have been surging on the island, and the volunteers have been trained in the prevention protocols adopted by the Church of Scientology, including the most effective methods of sanitization, which they used to ensure those visiting the mill and the police station would be safe.

Since the pandemic began, the Church has applied Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard’s maxim: “An ounce of prevention is worth a ton of cure.” 

The Church researched and adopted the most effective prevention protocols and published them in illustrated booklets that make them easy to understand and use. The Church also created dozens of public service announcements illustrating these protocols. This information may be read, viewed and downloaded free of charge from the How to Stay Well Resource Center on the Scientology website.  Scientology Volunteer Ministers of Sardinia have distributed thousands of these educational booklets in their communities.

 

A Volunteer Minister’s mandate is to be “a person who helps his fellow man on a volunteer basis by restoring truth and spiritual values to the lives of others.” Their creed: “A Volunteer Minister does not shut his eyes to the pain, evil and injustice of existence. Rather, he is trained to handle these things and help others achieve relief from them and new personal strength as well.”

To learn how the Scientology Volunteer Ministers responded to the COVID-19 pandemic internationally, visit the interactive timeline, 20/21—A Look Back & A Look Ahead on the Scientology website.