Salvation Army Keeps Spirits Up in Downturn

At the front line of welfare in the community, the Salvation Army has seen an alarming growth in the number of people needing help since the global financial crisis, which has stretched resources and tightened donations.

Major Steve Morris, area commander of the Salvation Army in Washington, D.C., says the service organization is the first stop for many families that are in financial crisis, with demand for help now coming from newer sectors of society, including middle-income families.

“We are having people comes to us for the very first time ever,” Morris said, adding that many tell a similar story: “I have been employed my whole life, I have lost my housing, I have lost my transportation, I just need to fill out an application to help with rent or help with bills."

Major Morris noted that increasing numbers of people in the DC region are even stopping in to the organization's mobile canteens for meals on their way home from work.

“There is just not enough food at home," he said.

Major Morris was speaking at one of the larger fund raising events for the Salvation Army in Washington, D.C., the annual Women’s Auxiliary Luncheon and Fashion Event, held this year at the Ritz Carlton Oct. 19.

The event marked the 62nd year of the luncheon, a fashion gala sponsored amongst others by Saks Fifth Avenue, and one which brings many of Washington’s elite out to support the Salvation Army’s community activities.

“Principally, the funding for this goes to help women and children in a transitional housing center in Washington,” Major Morris said. “It sponsors kids to go to the summer camp about 2 hours south from here, and helps with some family alcohol rehab programs we have in town.”

A global Christian organization, the Salvation Army began in Britain well over 100 years ago, and now provides housing and assistance in communities around the world, for the homeless, or families in distress.

They also provide food through mobile canteens, alcohol and drug rehabilitation, youth camps, elderly services, and disaster relief, amongst other community initiatives.

Resources however have been stretched during the economic downturn.

Increased Demand

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, around 46.2 million people in the United States were living below the poverty line of just $22,113 a year for a family of four in 2010. That is approximately 15.1 percent of the population.

The Salvation Army says it has felt the pressure, with an increase in demand for food assistance and services across the nation since 2009, while experiencing a drop in donations from all public, private, and government sectors.

Louise Ackerblom, wife of Luxembourg’s Ambassador to the US and a diplomatic committee member of the Women’s Auxiliary, said charities around the world were struggling to meet demands as a result of the global financial crisis.

She noted however that while the Salvation Army does similar work in her country, the organization does not have the same pressures for funding.

“Social support is very much taken care of by the state,” she explained. “We pay for it through our taxes, and so you don’t have the same galas as you do here for all kinds of different causes.”

Meanwhile, Salvation Army volunteers are preparing for their annual Christmas campaign: the Angel Tree Distribution, where Christmas gifts are given to families in need.

Longtime volunteer Nancy Pittman says demand has grown in the fifteen years she has been working with the Salvation Army in DC. She now manages 75 volunteers, who fill 6000 Christmas stockings to be given to needy children at Christmas.

Anyone with a little spare time is welcome, she says, adding: “I recruit as many as I can get, because the more hands I get the faster it goes.”