#hendersonsalvationarmy

The local Salvation Army is celebrating National Salvation Army Week this week with lots of fun activities for the children in the Red Shield Club as the organization continues to provide valuable services and programs to the larger community.

Red Shield Club Director Gina Eaves said club members are participating in activities ranging from creating murals and poetry to learning what it’s like to be an officer in the Salvation Army from Capt. Derrick Smith, who, along with his wife, Capt. Odessa Smith, leads the local organization in Henderson.

And the children have been learning about Salvation Army history, which includes a connection with donuts, Eaves said in an interview on Wednesday’s Town Talk with Bill Harris. Capt. Derrick Smith joined his colleague to talk about some of the Salvation Army’s activities as it celebrates its centennial in Henderson.

“Donuts have a place in Salvation Army history,” she said. Volunteers were dispatched to provide emotional and spiritual support to soldiers in France during World War I. In addition to the moral support, the Salvation Army volunteers also provided – you guessed it – donuts to the troops.

The Red Shield club no doubt was filled with the aroma of freshly baked Krispy Kremes on Monday as the children learned a little history about the organization.

Smith said it’s that spiritual component that separates the Red Shield Club from other after-school programs. The youth ministries programs are Christ-focused and the children, who range in age from 5 to 15, learn about salvation through the club programs and devotions.

“We are enthused and excited about that,” Smith said.

Eaves said she values feedback from the youth as well and their input plays an integral role in programming. “If they’re having fun, we’re all having fun,” she said. It is important to meet the children’s needs on a spiritual level as well as physically, emotionally and educationally. Weaving the spiritual aspect into the programming is intentional, Eaves added.

The club has more than 100 members. Eaves said the club meets the needs of the children and the needs of the community.

But the Salvation Army’s focus also lies in meeting the human needs in the community, Smith said. There are several upcoming opportunities for area residents that are happening at or near the Salvation Army, located at 2292 Ross Mill Rd.

The monthly community food box distribution will take place tomorrow (Thursday, May 12) from 1 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. in the Salvation Army parking lot. Smith said there would probably be about 250 families who stop in for a box.

Many of these families may be facing food insecurity, Smith said, adding that more senior adults seem to be taking advantage of the monthly distribution.

“Our boxes are definitely made with love,” Smith said, adding that the donations of food that local individuals make help. “We appreciate those donations because they go a long way,” he said.

The Salvation Army will host another Medassist giveaway on June 17, which distributes over-the-counter medications at no charge to folks who drive up or place an online order in advance.

The mission of the Salvation Army is to meet human needs, Smith said. Whether people need baby formula or pet food, Smith and his Salvation Army volunteers strive to help however they can.

He said the local Schewels recently conducted a diaper drive and collected hundreds of diapers that the Salvation Army could then offer to families who needed them.

“If we have it, we certainly want to give it to those who need it the most,” Smith said.

This weekend marks a two-day event that will occur next door to the Salvation Army at Vance Charter School. The RAM Medical Clinic will set up shop and conduct free health, dental and vision exams and procedures free of charge.

See https://www.ramusa.org/clinic-schedule/ for more information about the clinic.

WIZS Radio · TownTalk: Celebrating Salvation Army Week

Captains Derrick and Odessa Smith not only talk the talk, but they walk the walk when it comes to the local Salvation Army.

The husband-and-wife team have led the local organization for the past few years, and they’ve been instrumental during the recent move to its brand-new location at 2292 Ross Mill Road.

According to the latest annual report, the local Salvation Army served almost 15,000 people in 2020. The Smiths talked with John C. Rose on Thursday’s Town Talk about how the organization has fared during the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as some of its long-range goals.

“It’s crazy to think we were able to reach that many people,” Odessa Smith said. The Henderson branch serves six counties – Vance, Granville, Franklin, Warren, Northampton and Halifax – and sometimes, they see people from outside Vance County. “Our goal would be to reach all six counties in the future,” she said, “but there is so much need in Vance County (and) we can only do what we can do.”

At the height of the pandemic, when children were not at school, Odessa Smith said more families came to get food during the popular food distribution events.

In addition, the new facility was able to quickly pivot to provide a place for parents to take their children during the day and complete their remote instruction.

“The biggest way we served people was our food box giveaways,” she said. The distribution events swelled to several times a month during 2020, but have since returned to monthly events, she added.

Derrick said between 200-300 cars regularly drive through to pick up food boxes, which contain provisions from the Food Bank of Central North Carolina in Durham as well as from local donations.

Now that children are back in school, Odessa said they are seeing fewer families and more elderly people coming to pick up food boxes.

Usually, the food box giveaways occur on the third Thursday of each month, but January’s distribution will take place Wednesday, Jan. 19, beginning at 1 p.m. Derrick recommends that people arrive as early as possible. Some people start lining up as early as 9 a.m., he said. “It is a task, at times, to keep cars out of the road,” Derrick said. “We utilize all our parking lot on those days.”

He thanked volunteers for helping make that food distribution run so smoothly, from those who come in and prepare the boxes to other individuals who help out on the day of the event. He also thanked all the individuals and groups who volunteered to ring the bell during the Christmas Kettle campaign.

The Smiths are able to walk the walk and talk the talk out in the community these days, largely because they know that the Red Shield Club and the day-to-day operations are under the capable supervision of Gina Eaves. Eaves joined as club director in May 2021.

“That’s made such a difference for us,” Odessa said. “We can go out into the community and rest assured, the club is taken care of and in good hands. She is the prime spokesperson for the Salvation Army. She believes in our mission…the Christian mission of the Salvation Army. We were so blessed to be able to bring her on, she added.

The mission of the Salvation Army is “to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and to meet human needs in His name without discrimination.”

Derrick and Odessa say their organization is doing just that, and their efforts take many forms: from serving 75-100 children at the Red Shield Club after-school program to providing clothing vouchers for someone in need of clothing for a job interview.

“Folks are coming in for different things,” Derrick said. The community continues to be generous, he continued.

“I think it’s amazing – just when we think we don’t have the resources,” he said, something good happens.

The Salvation Army thrift store provides a revenue stream to support local programs, too. For each dollar that is spent at the store, located on Raleigh Road, 85 cents goes back into the community.

“As we are blessed, we are going to bless others in the community,” he said.

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WIZS Radio · TownTalk: Salvation Army Continues To Meet With Success

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