When homeless children and adults wonder where their next meal is coming from, the Salvation Army is there.
When Fargo-Moorhead’s first responders face emergencies – flood, fire or public safety — the Salvation Army is there.
When individual families don’t know where to turn in their hardest times, the Salvation Army is there with its support, be it physical, emotional or spiritual.
And when you walk in the front doors of dozens of businesses in Moorhead and Fargo this month, you’ll find them there, too. The annual Red Kettle Campaign’s volunteers – men and woman from virtually every walk of life – are busy swinging those bells from now until Christmas.
“The Red Kettle Campaign depends on close to 5,000 volunteers,” says Northern Division Major Byron Medlock, who with wife Elaine has headed local operations since 2013. This month, they hope to collect about $400,000 more in donations large and small, adding to the $100,000 already received since mid-November.
As of Tuesday, volunteer coordinator Julie Rivenes reports that more volunteers are still needed to cover some 4,000 hours of dinging and donging not yet spoken for.
Fargo-Moorhead’s corps has been around since 1892 – almost as long as the cities themselves. Yet, though they serve some 20,000 people every year, it is easy to take the organization for granted during the other 11 months of the year … except when it turns up in hard times. The community perhaps remembers best its mobile canteen serving flood-fighters in the Red River’s most rambunctious moments. Fire and police departments welcome the sight, not only for their support of public safety officials, but for the aid they offer families displaced by the emergencies that drew them.
Salvation Army volunteers serve hot, freshly prepared breakfasts and lunches to 120 to 130 individuals every day at their headquarters just north of the Fargo Post Office at 304 Roberts St. Some 130 count on those meals. In summer, when school is out, they take meals to wherever they find children who might otherwise go hungry without subsidized school-lunch programs. The staff also offers a broad range of crisis services – rent and utility assistance, transportation, medical aid, clothing and household items, and personal counseling. The Pathway of Hope pairs case managers with troubled families to help them sort out their struggles.
Nor is their work limited to the local area. During times of national need – hurricanes Katrina and Sandy, for example – a team of 30 trained volunteers stands ready to be deployed wherever they’re needed.
The Medlocks have been officers in the quasi-military religious organization for 31 years. Byron explains that, though it’s thought of as a human-services charity, the Army is really a church. An ordained pastor of the Nazarene Church, he conducts services every Sunday, when Sunday school and Bible study are also available.
“Our mantra is sharing the Christian faith,” he explains, noting that the Salvation Army’s British roots lie in the Methodist church. “We don’t wait for people to come to us. We meet them wherever they are.”
The local Salvation Army corps’ board of directors is laying the groundwork for a future move that they hope will take them away from the 90-year-old, often-patched building they now occupy. The aging three-story structure, with its multitude of entrances and six separate stairwells, is difficult for those with physical disabilities, he notes, “and it’s a security nightmare.” Byron says a feasibility study will begin after the first of the year, with a potential capital campaign later in the year. The new facility is expected to be outside the downtown area.
The Christian Science Monitor rates the Salvation Army as one of the nation’s top charities – number 6 in terms of overall budget, second in terms of public financial support, and in the top 10 for the percentage of donations actually spent on programs (rather than administration). Ninety percent of the dollars raised here directly support Fargo-Moorhead operations.
While the Christmastime Red Kettles account for the largest share of the Army’s budget, December donations are only part of the 12-month picture. The total — $900,000 – also includes other contributions, grants and bequests.
Will the Christmas spirit fill this year’s kettles to the brim with enough coins and bills to meet needs in the year ahead? “Will we reach our goal?” the major asks. He shrugs and smiles. “Only God knows.”
To volunteer to ring a bell for the Red Kettle Campaign, call volunteer coordinator Julie Rivenes at 701-232-5565, or sign up online at salvationarmynorth.org/volunteer/bellringing/.
