If you know me, you know that I LOVE to support small local charities, but I have a few larger national favorites.
The Salvation Army is a national charity that has NEVER been a member of my personal list for MANY reasons:
1. Their thrift stores are so overpriced, you will often find an item for sale that costs more than the original price tag.
2. The officials that I have had contact with through the Salvation Army have been rude, belittling, and less than helpful.
3. I have watched their very own bell ringers fish out "lunch money" from the donation kettles.
4. I have yet to see a proper response time from the Salvation Army when my locality has been in need. (For example, when NOVA was without 75% of it's power due to overweight snow last year.)
5. Local families and the elderly that have appealed to the Salvation Army for assistance have been denied for no valid reason.
When I think of organizations that fall short of what they should be, but have the potential to be so much more, Salvation Army is always the FIRST one that comes to mind. Yeah, sure, they will come and pick up your donations to their overpriced thrift store after weeks of calling, but short of that.......I have not seen much from them around here in the last few years.
Yesterday, that all changed. :)
My office adopted two children through the Salvation Army Angel Tree program sponsored by JCPenney this year. (I thought it a bit strange that suddenly SA needed corporate sponsorship, but I figured that, with everything else going screwy with the economy, it makes sense for businesses to partner up!) After purchasing, packaging, and wrapping our gifts for our "Angels at the Office", I bagged everything up and loaded it into my hatchback and headed for the local SA office, as indicated on our paperwork. Imagine my surprise when I arrived at the new local office within five minutes of my employer's office, only to discover a note on the door directing me to a holding warehouse located entirely on the OPPOSITE side of town. So, I loaded everything back up (in the cold & blustery wind) and headed for the other side of town. When I arrived at the location designated for drop off, all the doors were locked and no lights were on-what the heck??? Upon inquiring with the business next door, I found out that the "holding warehouse" was only open for 2 hours at a time and no one had been seen entering it prior to 2 p.m. A quick look at my cell let me know that it was 11:23 a.m..
Slightly concerned and becoming a bit frustrated, I loaded up the car with packages for a third time and headed back to the Woodbridge SA Office. Upon my arrival, the office lights were on, the warehouse sign removed from the door, and the door was unlocked. REJOICE!!!!! SWEET VICTORY!!!!! I unloaded my car into the 5 seat front office of SA and turned towards the open window to be greeted by Miss J, the Office Manager of the Woodbridge Local Office of Salvation Army. I kindly let Miss J. know my driving/loading events of the morning................................... and she proceeded to apologize profusely. (Wait-REALLY?)
According to Miss J, The Salvation Army had to partner with JCPenney this year because of the lack of government funding. Locally, the SA has based their budget on kettle collections alone for the last TWO YEARS due to being unable to rely on funding from the government. Further, the rise in SA thrift store prices (locally) has been necessary to assist in keeping the locality afloat as well and the new SA Office that I was standing in is currently staffed by only........TWO PEOPLE. This local branch of SA has gone as far as recruiting bell ringers/kettle clerks from any random person because they cannot find available help locally because so many families have members working out of the immediate area, manning two jobs, or even working three jobs to make ends meet due to layoffs earlier in the year. The warehouse holding area for SA was unmanned when I had arrived earlier because there just is not enough man power to staff it, and not enough funding to HIRE man power to staff it. Miss J. informed me that the Major is more than willing to run on empty if they have to, just to make the biggest impact they can by helping as many as they can. Locally, there are over 500 families in need in the Prince William County area alone this year.
Impacted by the statements she had just made, I felt inclined to let Miss J. know that the SA is not alone. I handed over my business card......and clued her in to the stealth organizations currently in the area, and how we could help. (I would expect in the near future to see a few more partnerships locally with the SA and organizations like FNB, PWCFreegan Code, & Reduce Waste:Sponsor Living.)
Once again, ignorance is bliss. :( I guess I could even go as far as quoting G.I. Joe and say that, in this case, "knowing is half the battle" would definitely apply.
I have a renewed awareness of my local Salvation Army and the impact they have on my locality. They might be down, but they are definitely not out, of the game of charity. Salvation Army NOVA tops my list of local charities. :)
I challenge you to get involved: act locally and think globally!!! Your local charities need your ideas, your donations, and mostly importantly.....they need YOU!!!
Merry Giving <3
