June 6th, 1990: Arriving a few days after an F-3 Tornado smashed into Limon, Colorado, much to his surprise Ronald Boutelle discovered an entirely different category of homelessness. It was right there, at that very moment in time when an enormous paradigm shift occurred when he discovered people who were "temporarily homeless" due to a natural disaster.
Even more telling, unlike the homeless on the streets of Denver who in general expressed little appreciation, the victims of this tornado showered Ronald with their sincerest gratitude. So it was this tornado that led to the creation of Krishna Disaster Relief.
Representing the American Red Cross, 6 months later, Mr. Bobby Baines flew from Washington, D.C. to meet with the founder of Krishna Disaster Relief (Ronald Boutelle). It was during this meeting that Mr. Baines expressed the fact that during disasters, nowhere within FEMA, NOVAD, the American Red Cross, or the Salvation Army was anyone providing vegetarian meals to disaster victims. He told Ronald how the dietary landscape in America had drastically changed and that relief agencies were struggling to fulfill the requirements of the large vegetarian population that they were now encountering. This conversation took place at the Denver Federal Center and is why Mr. Baines was eager to facilitate Krishna Disaster Relief's membership into America's premier disaster relief organization.
With all our love and kindness, providing these vegetarian meals when disaster strikes is at the core of Krishna Disaster Relief's mission.
In the future there are other areas of disaster relief that Krishna Disaster Relief will be working to provide, ranging from search & rescue, to a fully functional field hospital ...and more.
On November 25, 1990 while participating in disaster-relief training in Denver, Colorado, the first of three more disaster occurred where Krishna Disaster Relief was called to help. The first was a massive fire at Stapleton International Airport. (Click on "photos" to see pictures from this and other events.)
Then just 3 months later on March 3rd, 1991, United Airlines Flight 585 was on a flight from Denver to Colorado Springs, carrying 20 passengers and 5 crew members. The plane experienced a wind anomaly while on its final approach causing the plane to roll over and enter an uncontrolled dive. All 25 people on board the Boeing 737 were killed on impact. Krishna Disaster Relief was dispatched and provided vegetarian food to both the military and civilian first responders.
Finally, nearly 8 months later, member's of Krishna Disaster Relief responded to the Oakland, California firestorm of October 1991, also known as the Tunnel Fire. Before being brought under full control on October 23, the fire killed 25 people and injured 150 others. The 1,520 acre fire destroyed 2,843 single-family dwellings and 437 apartments and condominiums. Once it was safe to enter the area, Krishna Disaster Relief distributed much appreciated vegetarian food and water.
Click Here to watch a 1990 video that documents what happened when the F-3 tornado smashed into Limon, Colorado. Arriving a few days later, the founder of Krishna Disaster Relief took this picture.
Limon, Colorado - Where it all began
