Salvation Army Today

The Salvation Army of Metro Detroit Receives $50,000 Grant from Bank of America

The Salvation Army of Metro Detroit has received a grant from Bank of America to help feed individuals and families in need.
The $50,000 grant from Bank of America will be used to provide thousands of
holiday food boxes called “Bountiful Boxes” with ingredients for a variety of meal options - to individuals and families in Macomb, Oakland, and Wayne counties.
Bank of America volunteers will pack the food boxes on Wednesday, Dec. 6th,
which The Salvation Army will deliver to local families for the holidays.
 
The grant is part of Bank of America's philanthropic giving efforts in local
communities. Awardees were selected for their commitment to economic mobility,
addressing health and jobs.
Since its inception in 2013, the Bountiful Boxes- program has served tens of
thousands of meals to metro Detroiters. Last year, The Salvation Army of Metro
Detroit provided more than 2.4 million meals to individuals and families in need.
 
To learn about The Salvation Army’s programs and services near you, visit SALVATIONARMYUSA.ORG

The Salvation Army Helping After Maine Shooting

Two people with connections to The Salvation Army were among the 18 victims of the recent mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine. Now that the shooter has been found dead, the local corps is playing crucial role in helping the mourning community.
 
After a two-day lockdown as police searched for the shooter, The Salvation Army is active in a multiagency Family Assistance Center that opened the following Saturday—just a day after the gunman was found.
 
Major David Irwin, the co-commander of The Salvation Army’s Lewiston/Auburn Corps, said he hopes grief counseling and emotional and spiritual help can be offered to grieving families. A longtime congregant of the local church and an employee of the local thrift store both lost relatives in the shooting.
 
Major Irwin added, “We appreciate the prayers from everybody and all the support we can get in helping these individuals and the families here in town,” “That’s our priority right now, just helping people find some form of normalcy in their life, find answers for themselves, and explaining why this sort of thing happens in the world.”
 
To learn about the ongoing healing taking place in this community, visit SACONNECTS.ORG
 

Fall Festival Unites Community

Outreach ministry takes a different shape based on a community’s needs.
That’s why so many churches across the country dedicate time and resources to hosting fall festivals year after year. At The Salvation Army in El Paso, more than 500 people attended the 2023 Fall Festival, doubling the numbers from last year’s event.
 
This year’s Fall Festival had all the usual entertainment: food, games, bounce houses, trunk-or-treating, costumes, music, even pony rides and a train! Everything was completely free which was a big surprise for newcomers. Offering free, family-friendly events open to the community is a cornerstone of The Salvation Army’s outreach efforts in El Paso.
 
In fact, one of the main goals of this event was to make enjoyable and family-oriented activities accessible to all, regardless of their financial circumstances.
 
Those neighbors at the Fall Festival included newcomers, soldiers, church members, shelter residents, advisory board members, employees, sponsors, and volunteers.
 
To find local events being held this holiday season in your community, visit SALVATIONARMYUSA.ORG.

Annual Coats for Kids fundraiser

The Salvation Army of Metro Detroit’s annual Coats for Kids fundraiser, hosted by Detroit’s Hip-Hop & R&B station, 97.9 WJLB, will take place on Saturday, Nov. 4th, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Nonstop, located in Warren, Michigan.
 
For more than 40 years, the Coats for Kids campaign has provided coats and other winter accessories to children in need across metro Detroit. Listeners can drop off new children’s coats—infant through adult sizes—throughout the event.
After the coats are donated, they’ll be distributed to children in need throughout metro Detroit in the weeks following the event and during the Christmas season.
 
For those who can’t attend Coats for Kids, can still support the cause by: • Donating online at SAmetrodetroit.org;
 
Texting COAT to 24365;
 
Families in need of winter coats and accessories for their kids this season can contact their local Salvation Army for assistance.

A Tuesday fish fry at Cincinnati Center Hill

The men’s ministry at The Salvation Army Cincinnati Center Hill Corps comes together on Tuesday nights to watch faith-based movies, discuss Scripture, or bond and engage in conversation. But no matter the activity of the night, the key feature of every gathering is sharing a meal together.
 
In September, the men’s ministry used one of its Tuesday nights to host a fish fry fundraiser. The money raised would help send some of its members to men’s camp and other Salvation Army activities. Thanks to a donation of frozen fish from a local distributor, the men served close to 75 people. Along with friends and family- many of the attendees were residents from The Salvation Army’s low-income senior housing apartments, located next to the corps.
 
The men’s ministry also pitched in to serve food, drinks, and dessert. The corps had received a donation of three fryers, and two of the men plus a member of the corps’ women’s ministry, a trained chef, handled the cooking.
 
Though the event had a few hang-ups, like the corps’ circuit breaker popping because the air fryers were all running in unison, The corps looks forward to having this event again.
 

Dolly Parton To Kick Off The Salvation Army’s Red Kettle Campaign

Global icon and philanthropist, Dolly Parton will perform live at AT&T Stadium for The Salvation Army’s Red Kettle Kickoff Halftime Show during the Dallas Cowboys Thanksgiving Day game, airing on CBS. This game has become the most-watched regular season game of the year, drawing 42 million viewers last year.
 
The Thanksgiving Day game marks the official start of one of the largest and longest-running annual fundraisers of its kind. A Cowboys tradition for 27 years, the halftime show puts a national spotlight on the need of millions during the holiday season, issuing a rallying cry to donate to The Salvation Army’s iconic Red Kettle Campaign, which began in 1891.
 
The Red Kettle Campaign is especially needed now to meet the increasing needs of millions of families living in the United States. The Salvation Army, the nation’s largest private provider of social services, will not stop working to provide Christmas gifts, food, shelter, and rent and utility assistance to millions of people struggling this holiday season and beyond — no matter the cost.
 
To learn more and offer your support, visit SALVATIONARMYUSA.ORG
 

Removing Barriers to Education

There are many ways to get to school – walk, bike, car, bus, on the back of a motorcycle, or being pushed in a wheelchair.
 
According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, 244 million children between 6 and 18 are not in school. The Salvation Army International Schools and Education has a long history of engagement with education and currently works with more than half a million children in more than 2,500 schools, in 45 countries.
 
For The Salvation Army, the essential element is being able to attend school and receive a high-quality education, regardless of how one ‘travels’ there.
 
The Salvation Army is about removing barriers to education for the most vulnerable, and then providing education that is high quality and enables children to either move confidently to the next stage of education or feel empowered enough to look for employment with the necessary skills required in an increasingly globalized world.
 
Learn more about The Salvation Army’s commitment to educating our youth at https://salvationarmy.org/ihq/schools

Texas Music & Arts Leaders Minister in DR Congo

From August 24th through September 3rd, members of The Salvation Army’s Texas Music and Arts Department traveled to the Democratic Republic of the Congo to serve as special guests for an impactful gathering. For more than a week, approximately 500 delegates and staff from the Democratic Republic of Congo came together for a comprehensive music institute.
 
Each day’s schedule at the camp was jam-packed, beginning with morning devotions. The camp’s five bands performed in a rotation each morning, and then classes proceeded for upwards of five hours broken up by lunch.
 
For the majority of the week, the delegates and staff worked at a camp in the small village of Kavwaya, which includes a church along with a Salvation Army run hospital, boarding school, and vocational training center.
 
By the time the Texas team prepared to return home, it was clear that each member enjoyed a tremendous experience. The impact was not only musical and artistic but also spiritual and cultural, with lifelong friendships established in the process.

The Salvation Army Launches its Red Kettle Season

The Salvation Army is launching its annual Red Kettle Christmas Campaign to fundraise for its critical social programs that support individuals and families in dire need.
In the spirit of the campaign’s theme, “Love Beyond Christmas,” The Salvation Army is
calling on everyone to help the nonprofit spread hope and love to your community’s
most vulnerable not just during the season of giving but all year long. The campaign
underscores the importance of aiding neighbors in need who may be without necessities like food and shelter during the Christmas season and beyond.
During a year marked by inflation and economic instability, your gifts to The Salvation Army help your neighbors navigate food insecurity, unexpected job loss, and eviction concerns.
 
Please join our effort to put love above all else by supporting local families in need all year long.
 
Visit give.salvationarmyusa.org to offer your support.

Your Support Means Food for Neighbors in Need

Since the pandemic, food banks operated by The Salvation Army have become an increasingly critical resource.
 
Before the pandemic, The Salvation Army in Saskatchewan Canada provided food hampers to about 10 clients a day. Now, with the rise of food costs, they have been serving up to 25 per day.
 
Once a month, regular clients come in to pick up a bag of groceries, a bag of meat, and a hamper filled with basics like pasta, canned soup, and tomato sauce. The food bank also supports up to 30 additional walk-in clients.
 
In addition to food, they always ask their regular clients, ‘Is there anything else you need?’ Because the food banks also provide shampoo, deodorant, laundry soap, dish soap and so much more.
 
Maria Kolbaba, a volunteer for The Salvation Army says
 “I really want to thank our donors for making this food bank possible,” she adds.  “I hope they never get tired of helping us keep it open so we can continue serving our neighbors in need.”