“If we ever needed help, it is now.” Kyle Smith, secretary for communications, The Salvation Army USA Western Territory, said while monitoring and coordinating responses in Southern California—one of the largest epicenters of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. “We have closed many of our Family Thrift Stores to make shelters for the homeless and get them off the streets to help stop the spread of the virus. As a result, we desperately need financial support to keep our Adult Rehabilitation Centers open during this time.”
The Salvation Army’s ARCs (substance abuse centers) are primarily funded by thrift store purchases. Not only has the Army lost the revenue from those stores that provide aid to those who need assistance, meals, shelters and substance abuse counseling, but it has also shut them down to provide spaces for beds and to help the homeless during the epidemic. In doing so, the Army is not only providing thousands of new beds but thousands of meals as well. Its food distribution centers and pantries are working overtime as volunteers and staff put their own lives and families at risk to work on the front lines.
Smith shares that more hard-working people are asking for help than ever before. Many people already on the financial edge before the pandemic and who had never asked for assistance before are now are showing up at their facilities. The Salvation Army is known for its service to others without discrimination. And while some are hesitant to ask for help because the Army is strongly associated with a Christian worldview, now, even the skeptics are asking as never before. Consequently, the Salvation Army is fighting to meet the overwhelming physical as well as spiritual needs.
As a national board member for the Salvation Army and the co-founder of Cooke Media Group, a media production company in Burbank, California and the nonprofit, The Influence Lab, I have been assisting the Army on how to use media more effectively to communicate its needs and programs. Last September, Influence Lab Women—our initiative to women leaders in the media and entertainment industry, gathered at the Hollywood corps facilities to help serve and pray for the hundreds of homeless on the streets in Hollywood and to see the operation firsthand. I have also witnessed the almost daily updates from the National Headquarters as the national government and the Trump administration have recently recognized the Army as one of the leading providers for assistance to the public during the pandemic. As a result, I see just how great the need truly is and the many ways the Salvation Army is filling them.
SOURCE: Charisma News
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