This morning, two emergency response vehicles from Utah were to be driven to Birmingham, Ala., where they'll join up with other Red Cross efforts heading into Florida. The vehicles will be used to distribute food, water and other essentials, Schaffer said.

"We have a feel for the kind of materials needed in such disasters," Kent Hinckley, director of Bishop's Storehouse Services for the LDS Church said.

The hygiene kits include two hand towels, two bars of soap, four toothbrushes, toothpaste and a comb. Volunteers assemble the kits, and Hinckley said another 100,000, to replace what's been shipped out, should be ready to go by Wednesday.

He said this is "a small but significant part" of the relief effort likely to be given to hurricane victims this time around. Chainsaws, tarps, ropes and generators are some of the other aid the church already has in place in the area.

"Our biggest asset is the ecclesiastical leaders who organize the members," Hinckley said. They can help people clean up their yards after hurricanes.

He stressed that aid and help aren't given just to LDS Church members but anyone who needs it.

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Contributing: Lynn Arave; E-mail: lois@desnews.com