Image Credit: CFJC Today

By Ashley Legassic

NON-PROFIT SERIES

STRUGGLE FOR SURVIVAL: The Salvation Army

Jul 18, 2019 | 4:37 PM

KAMLOOPS — In the second part of our series Struggle For Survival, we profile the Salvation Army. The worldwide non-profit was founded in England in 1865 and has been serving the Kamloops community for more than 100 years. Since 1915, the local Salvation Army has helped the homeless and low-income individuals and families. Despite being the largest non-government social service agency, the Salvation Army too has its own unique challenges to fulfill its mission.

Once a week, Tori Barr heads up breakfast at the Salvation Army.

Tori came up with the idea to feed the homeless at breakfast, a meal she felt was underserved in the community.

“It’s just another program, but realistically that’s one of our employees that just came to us and had a real passion and saw a need,” says captain Paul Trickett. “Where there’s a need, we fill the need.”

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Image Credit: CFJC Today

The Salvation Army has its mobile kitchen that runs every Tuesday and Thursday. It also serves a dinner on Wednesday nights.

Its mission is to love your neighbour, and where it has the resources, it tries to help the people who need it most.

“We don’t only look at feeding the physical, but the mental part of people. We try to fill that for them,” notes Trickett. “The spiritual, obviously. We try to do a hollistic ministry here, and feeding brings people in the door, and that gives us the opportunity to help them.”

The Salvation Army in Kamloops relies 100 per cent on donations. Its worldwide kettle campaign is the biggest fundraiser. Last year, the local branch brought in $300,000, contributing to the annual budget of $1.3 million.

“It’s a huge challenge because if we can’t bring in the money that we need, we need to cut programs, and cutting programs means that we have to say the word ‘no,'” says captain Lisa Trickett. “There’s nothing worse than someone coming in who has hit rock bottom for the first time in their life and needs help. If we don’t have the funds, then we can’t say ‘yes, we can help you.'”

People like Stuart Bennett, who was a wildfire evacuee in 2017 from 100 Mile House, rely on the Salvation Army for their daily needs.

“Just the spiritual support they can give, plus the food and different support they can give is very helpful. And it’s an endearing environment I find where they try to support in every way.”

The Salvation Army is competition for dollars among the many non-profits in Kamloops. But the Tricketts believe in a collaborative approach and it’s work well over the last few years.

“What we’re trying to do is work alongside other agencies,” notes Paul. “We’re finding that works the best. Not to be in competition, but if we can all work together and find our own niche, then the dollar gets spread farther.”

With a century under its belt in Kamloops, the Salvation Army can be relied on for many more years to come.

“The Salvation Army will always be here. When everybody else decides to pack up and move out of the community, we will be here. We’re not going anywhere.”