Jax Gives 2017

J-8 THE TIMES-UNION · Sunday, November 12, 2017
jacksonville gives
SALVATION ARMY
a caring voice
“I think people
tend to forget
that we are,
first of all,
a church, a
152-year-old
church. And
that is still
at the core of
everything
we do. Our
Christian
motivation
requires us to
minister to
anyone who
needs us. Quite
simply, any
time we see a
need, we strive
to meet it.”
Major Bert Tanner
Area Commander
Salvation Army of
Northeast Florida
Meals from Salvation Army are served by members of LEAP (Ladies Empowering Attitudes with Purpose), a network and support group for women
who want to do better and be better in their work and social lives. LEAP volunteers help out every month at the Salvation Army’s meal ministry.
(Photos provided by the Salvation Army)
Leading the way
Guiding families on the path to self-sufficiency
how to give
The Salvation
Army
The Salvation Army
accepts — and
needs — donations
year-round because
it serves yearround.
You are
invited to help in
that work at any
time by donating at
salvationarmyNEFL.
org or by calling
(904) 301-4839
or mailing a
donation to The
Salvation Army of
Northeast Florida,
328 N. Ocean St.,
Jacksonville FL
32233.
By Barbara Gavan
barbara.gavan@jacksonville.com
Lt. Dominic Blanford gets the Salvation Army’s canteen — or mobile
kitchen — ready to leave for Texas to help with relief efforts after
Hurricane Harvey. The canteen has its own stove top, refrigerators, ovens
and generator, with the capability of serving 1,500 meals a day.
The Salvation Army staff offers a prayer before leaving to help in
hurricane relief. Not everyone realizes that the Salvation Army is a church
with the stated mission “to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and to meet
human needs in His name without discrimination.”
You know the holiday season
has truly begun when bright
red kettles appear in front
of every store and the sound
of a ringing bell is heard
throughout the United States and
many other countries. For more
than 125 years, Salvation Army
volunteers have raised millions of
dollars in support of programs that
provide food, shelter, rehabilitation
and disaster relief for families
and individuals in crisis.
One of our best-known and most
generous holiday traditions began
in San Francisco in December, 1891,
when Salvation Army Capt. Joseph
McFee had to find a way to pay for
the Christmas dinner he wanted to
serve 1,000 people who otherwise
would have nothing to eat. Inspiration
hit when he remembered
— as a sailor in Liverpool, England
— seeing a large pot on the city’s
docks where charitable donations
could be tossed.
The next day, he sought and received
permission to place a brass
pot at the Oakland ferry landing,
with a sign reading, “Keep the Pot
Boiling.” In a matter of days, he
had all the money he needed for his
Christmas celebration.
In the next few years, the kettles
had spread to 30 locations on the
West Coast, then to Boston and
New York. By 1901, donations from
the kettles filled Madison Square
Garden with hungry people enjoying
a sit-down Christmas dinner.
The red kettle has become synonymous
with the Salvation Army,
but there is much more to the organization.
Its stated mission is “to
preach the gospel of Jesus Christ
and to meet human needs in His
name without discrimination.”
“I think people tend to forget
that we are, first of all, a church,
a 152-year-old church,” said Major
Bert Tanner, Salvation Army area
commander for Northeast Florida.
“And that is still at the core of everything
we do. Our Christian
motivation requires us to minister
to anyone who needs us. Quite
simply, any time we see a need, we
strive to meet it.”
The spectrum of assistance is a
wide one. In Jacksonville alone, the
Salvation Army provides nearly
43,000 nights of shelter per year
to the homeless with its shelter for
men — which now has approximately
90 residents — and services
to ease their transition off the
streets and into stability. For single
women and families of all kinds
(including fathers with children),
the Red Shield Lodge provides the
same services.
At present, it houses 36 women
and 16 children. Both homes provide
casework, support and shelter
with the goal of moving their
residents into stable housing and
stable financial situations.
“We have been in Jacksonville
since 1891, and I estimate that we
help about 5,000 children a year,”
Tanner said. “We also serve about
463 meals a day and provide 50
households per day with food baskets.
The baskets from our Food
Pantry go to those who have demonstrated
a financial need, but we
serve dinner at 6:30 every night of
the year to anyone who is hungry.
In a typical year, that is around
168,807 meals.”
Those who have moved on from
the shelters and meal service are
not then forgotten. The Pathway
of Hope provides continued support
to families with children to
help overcome the challenges of
unstable housing, unemployment
and lack of education and lead the
way to sustainable change, to stability
and — ultimately — to selfsufficiency.
The Salvation Army’s disaster
relief, such as that presently being
offered in Northeast Florida to
Hurricane Irma victims, is nothing
new.
“Our disaster services started in
San Francisco in 1906 following the
great San Francisco earthquake,
and have continued on through the
years,” Tanner said. “This has been
one of our busiest years ever, with
helping out after the earthquakes
in Mexico, the hurricanes in Houston,
Puerto Rico and locally. Salvation
Army workers are in California
with the first responders [to
the wildfires]; they’re still in Houston
and here in Florida, from Key
West to Northeast Florida. We’ll be
where we’re needed just as long as
we’re needed. We offer an immediate
response, as well as restoration
and recovery help.”
On a local level, the Salvation
Army is also part of Florida’s First
Coast Relief Fund, which was first
activated after Hurricane Matthew
and is active again now after Irma.
“We have used our first allocation
and are asking for a second,”
Tanner said. “We’re extremely appreciative
that the Relief Fund is
providing funds for so many organizations
to distribute where they
are needed most. We’ll continue
to explore where they can be best
used — for electricity, utilities,
rent. The disaster relief in our area
may go on for a long time — we
don’t know how long, but this is a
unique and very real need.”
Tanner pointed to the Salvation
Army’s volunteers as the backbone
of the organization.
“Our volunteers are a crucial
part of what we do,” he said. “They
take every dollar that is donated
and stretch it out further than
anyone could dream it could go.
In almost all of our programs, we
could not accomplish what we do
without the volunteers, who continue
to be the most dedicated and
generous people.
“Although this is a community
with great needs, it is also a community
with a great heart and compassion,”
Tanner said. “It has the
organizations needed to reach out
and meet those needs head-on.”