The Salvation Army in Fort Wayne, Indiana: More Than Bells and Kettles

Santa hat, ringing bell and a big red kettle. We've all seen them standing in front of grocery stores asking us for spare change. I'm talking about the men and women of the Salvation Army. For more than 100 years, people less fortunate than most have benefited from the tireless efforts put forth by the Salvation Army around Christmastime. But is ringing bells and collecting loose change from kind strangers in front of supermarkets all they do? The answer is no. As a matter of fact, that's only a small part.

The Salvation Army has been a part of Allen County's backbone since 1886 and is recognized as one of the premier humanitarian organizations in the world.

According to Allen County Coordinator Major Mark Welsh the Salvation Army on average helps over 900 families through their red kettle donations, food basket, and Toys for Tots donation locations throughout Allen County during the Christmas season.

In addition to the winter holiday drives, the Salvation Army has a Community Youth Center in their main location at 2901 North Clinton Street in Fort Wayne. This after school center facilitates around 400 children and teenagers during the year. The center includes a recreation room filled with table, and video, games, a computer lab, and a full sized gymnasium. It is staffed by local volunteers from various colleges that help the kids with homework and other skills, or, if they just need someone to talk to. "Sometimes we take on between 80 to 90 kids after school" says Community Youth Center Coordinator, Chris Dybin. "It's fun but challenging." she adds.

To complement the youth center, every Thursday night there is a Character Building Program for children and teens. The structural make-up of character building includes education, recreation, worship, and service to community. This usually brings in between 50 to 75 kids per week. Special speaker guests from around the community are sometimes invited to speak to the kids and give messages with a positive spin.

One of the least known areas of help offered is Adult Rehabilitation. The Salvation Army provides clinical treatment for those battling substance abuse and chemical dependency. Help is offered to veterans, transients, the mentally ill, the undereducated, and HIV/AIDS patients. Professional psychological and spiritual counseling is also available. They may also help with job placement and work rehabilitation.

Traditionally, the Salvation Army is a church, but is fairly well known for its Social Services Program that

helps with food and clothing needs. This also goes along with the homelessness program that helps with housing and shelter. Although the Salvation Army has no physical shelter, this program helps people in need by providing emergency financial assistance for rent and/or mortgage payments, utilities, transportation and other basic day-to-day needs.

The Salvation Army is always looking for men and women to volunteer throughout the year. If you're interested in helping, or want to know about even more programs, call them at 260-744-2311. Or, you can go to 2901 North Clinton Street in Fort Wayne.