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Knoxville Answers The Salvation Army’s Call for Assistance
Every summer, as temperatures rise, so do the needs for those seeking assistance from The Salvation Army. Fortunately, with significant help from the community, the organization has been able to keep up with the demand. Last month, The Salvation Army asked the community to help alleviate the need for bottled water and fans. Several businesses and churches responded graciously.
“We are humbled by the response we received from our neighbors in our time of need,” says Knoxville Area Commander, Major Albert Villafuerte. “The Salvation Army has always relied on the generosity of local residents to help us do our
work and they have once again answered our call and provided relief to those in need.”
For the fourth consecutive year, Knoxville-area Walmart has jumpstarted The Salvation Army’s annual fan drive. This year, they donated a total of 50 box fans to The Salvation Army’s Emergency Assistance Program from all Knox County stores. Ignition Church also donated 16 new box fans to the program.
Other local businesses donated bottle water and food for the Emergency Assistance Program. Regency Beauty Institute and Answer Financial held canned food and bottled water drives that each netted several bins of food and water.
The temperatures are still climbing and many of our neighbors are still thirsty. Groups interested in hosting a water drive are encouraged to contact Maria Down at 525-9401
To make a monetary donation, please visit www.salvationarmyknoxville.org or call 525-9401.
About The Salvation Army
The Salvation Army, an evangelical part of the universal Christian church established in 1865, has been supporting those in need in His name without discrimination for 130 years in the United States. Nearly 30 million Americans receive assistance from The Salvation Army each year through the broadest array of social services that range from providing food for the hungry, relief for disaster victims, assistance for the disabled, outreach to the elderly and ill, clothing and shelter to the homeless and opportunities for underprivileged children. 82 cents of every dollar spent is used to carry out those services in 5,000 communities nationwide. For more information, go to www.salvationarmyusa.org.
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Meet Maria
The Salvation Army’s Knoxville Area Command is pleased to announce the addition of Maria Haun to its staff. Maria will serve as the Command’s Volunteer Coordinator. In her role, she will work closely with the Director of Development, Jonathan Haskell and the Director of Community Relations, Rob Link.
Maria was born and raised in East Tennessee. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Music Business and Entrepreneurship from Middle Tennessee State University.
In 2005, she moved to New York City to help start The Gallery Church. During her time there, she filled many roles including Volunteer Coordinator, Event Planner and Administrative Assistant. She also helped start and manage City Uprising, an annual community service and worship event. She moved back to Tennessee in 2009 to be closer to her family. She most recently served as a Clerical Assistant for Wildflower International.
When she’s not working, you can find her volunteering her time in the children’s ministry of OneLife Church or trying out new recipes with her fiancé. She loves coffee and to travel. Her dream destinations to travel to are Ireland and Australia.
Celebrating Stories of Hope
Master of Ceremonies as we celebrated stories of hope. The event raised nearly $190,000 for the Command’s programs and services.
Annual Red Kettle Campaign a Success…THANK YOU!
Thanks to generous donations from the Knoxville area community, thousands of volunteer hours and the support of area retailers, The Salvation Army raised over $587,000 through the 2011 Red Kettle Campaign. The total represents more than a 9% increase over 2010 and exceeded the goal of $500,000. The total includes Knoxville, Maryville, Oak Ridge and Sevierville. The campaign, which kicked off on November 14 and ran through Christmas Eve, is The Salvation Army’s largest fundraising event.
“We’re again overwhelmed with the generosity of our friends and neighbors here in the Knoxville area,” said Major Don Vick. “For the first time in several years, we were ahead of the pace needed to exceed our goal for most of the campaign and take advantage of the drier weather to maximize our kettle locations throughout the command.”
The contributions helped to fund The Salvation Army’s Christmas programs, which helped over 4,300 families in need in 2011. During the Christmas season, the command provided:
~ 1,362 holiday meals served
~ 4,385 families served
~ 8,024 individuals served
~ 2,100food boxes given
~ 4,539 Angels
~ 5,230 stockings
~ 37,843 gifts
~ 23,135 clothing items
The contributions will also help keep area programs and services, which affect nearly 30,000 people in East Tennessee, going throughout 2012.
Honoring Our Volunteers
On August 11, The Salvation Army honored its volunteers with an ice cream social, live music and door prizes. The event, which was held at Cedar Springs Presbyterian Church in West Knoxville, served as a party with a purpose. Volunteers were asked to bring school supplies to help children in need get a head start on the upcoming school year.
“Volunteers are so vital to our ministry that we often call them the army behind the Army,” explained Knoxville Area Commander, Major Don Vick. “They truly are the foundation of our mission and this event is just a small token of our appreciation for everything they do for our community.”
The event honored the thousands of individuals who donated nearly 20,000 hours of time to The Salvation Army last year. However, it was a select few who were recognized for their overwhelming support and dedication to The Salvation Army. The awards this year included the Mary Shafer Award for Outstanding Service to The Salvation Army in honor of the late Mary Shafer, wife of Salvation Army Board Member Emeritus Bo Shafer and a long-time supporter of the organization. This award was given to Kristi Lynch who has donated her time and artistic ability to the mural in The Salvation Army’s Community Garden which was valued at $8,000.
“I just try to share the talent God’s blessed me with to hopefully make a difference,” said Lynch. It’s been an honor to work with The Salvation Army and I would do it again!”
Also recognized were First United Methodist Church, Kiwanis of Maryville, Northside Kiwanis and Stephen Shubiak for 60 hours each of bell ringing during the 2010 Red Kettle Campaign. There were several groups who each adopted 100 Angels during the 2010 Angel Tree Campaign. These groups were: Cooper Realty Investments, The Hobby Williams Salon, St. John’s Cathedral, Morning Star Child Development and Pilot Flying J. Finally, The Girl Scouts of the Beaver Creek Service Unit were recognized for filling 700 stockings during the 2010 campaign.
Garden Creating Community
A monumental volunteer effort has transformed a vacant lot behind The Salvation Army into the Red Shield Community Garden. Already this summer volunteers have harvested corn, radishes, lettuce, cabbage, squash and tomatoes, all of which has been used in our soup kitchen or shared with our emergency assistance clients.
The garden was the vision of Volunteer Coordinator, Yvonne Yates. “We have so many people who want to serve here and it seemed we were constantly using them to clean up this vacant lot,” said Yvonne. “We thought it would be better to put them to work creating something beautiful and productive.”
Since the groundbreaking in March, hundreds of volunteers from a variety of places have been involved, including the WOW Team from St. John’s Lutheran, Cornerstone Church with Knoxville’s Operation Inasmuch and a group from Breakthrough, a local organization dedicated to improving the lives of adults with autism.
Beyond beautifying the space and producing a harvest, one of the best things about the garden is the sense of community that it has helped foster. “On any given day we’ll have homeless volunteers or community service volunteers working alongside church groups or some of our major donors,” said Yvonne. “When these diverse groups of people are working together, it helps them understand one another and creates a real sense of community.”
The symbolism of the project is not lost on Major Don Vick. “We’ve taken something that most people in the community would have considered unattractive and even useless but, with a little work, made it into something beautiful and productive again. It’s what we do in the lives of hundreds of men and women every year.”
For more information on the Community Garden, scan the code with your smart phone, stop by our KnoxRedShield facebook page or visit http://www.SalvationArmyKnoxville.org.
Without the hard work, dedication and donations from those listed below, our community garden would not be the success that it is.
ETCDC Kristi Lynch Ron Duncan
Charles McRae Frank Callo Impromptu
Ellenburg Landscaping & Nursery Champion Day Lilies Mayo Garden Center
Gamma Sigma Sigma Delta Sigma Theta Kappa Alpha Phi
Knox Catholic H.S. Webb School CAK
Kinsey Gardens
Back-to-School Shopping Spree
It may seem like summer just began, but Knoxville area students are already back in school. While most parents are rejoicing and most kids are dreading the inevitable, 30 area students are excited for the new school year thanks to The Salvation Army and Target.
On July 26, Target stores across the country treated more than 12,000 students to an amazing Back-to-School-Spree. The kids were each given an $80 Target GiftCard to choose their favorite school supplies, clothes, and other necessities for the upcoming academic year. Locally, 30 kids from Knoxville, Maryville and Sevierville descended upon the Target store near Knoxville Center Mall and were given an hour to do their shopping.
For some them, this is the first time they’ve ever had brand new school materials. For many, they have a new confidence knowing they don’t have to worry about being picked on or falling behind due to a lack of supplies. For all, the shopping event was a lot of fun.
We want to wish a huge THANKS to our partner Target for their $1 million donation that is supporting the education and development of thousands of Salvation Army youth program participants.
Be A Shield
A shield is designed to protect the areas that are most vulnerable. Everyday, we are blessed to be surrounded by those who help us in our mission of doing the most good. We recognize these selfless individuals as “shields” – but our community is always in need of more. How can you be a shield?
- Pray for The Salvation Army. The Salvation Army’s mission has always been more than a physical battle. It is a spiritual battle as well and we need partners who will support us in prayer.
- Organize a donation drive. This is something that can be done virtually at any point during the year. Drives can be to support our regularly scheduled programs or done independently. There is also the option of hosting a “Get Caught Giving” event. Our Get Caught Giving campaign allows businesses to host a Salvation Army truck which provides employees a convenient way to donate everything from furniture to clothes to toys. All donations are tax deductible and receipts are always available.
- Adopt a Red Kettle. The Salvation Army’s Red Kettle campaign is our most recognized campaign of the year. For the last six weeks of every year, we have approximately 40 kettles scattered across the Knoxville area. At least one bell ringer is required to be with the kettle from 10 a.m. until 8 p.m., six days a week. That’s a LOT of bell ringers! And, without a bell ringer to accompany it, the kettle cannot be placed in public. Because of the vast number of bell ringers needed we ask individuals, church groups, businesses and schools to adopt a kettle. By adopting a kettle, you’re committing to be the face of The Salvation Army and doing the most good. The Red Kettle Campaign represents about 10 percent of our annual income so we have to maximize the number of kettles around town and the amount of time they are there.
Merv Lyndall is Doing the Most Good
While he’s not an employee of The Salvation Army, Merv Lyndall is certainly a regular fixture at the Command. Merv’s a volunteer extraordinaire who came The Salvation Army early last February while he was looking for a place to live after he was diagnosed with cancer last Fall.
“I spent a month in the hospital after I was diagnosed with cancer and saw many people who weren’t 
going to leave the hospital,” Merv said. “As bad as my situation was, I was much more fortunate than some other patients because I was able to leave. When I left, I decided I wanted to give back.”
After being released from the hospital in late January, Merv came to The Salvation Army in hope of finding a place to stay. During that process, he met Volunteer Coordinator, Yvonne. Merv expressed his interest in volunteering to Yvonne and she told him that she was looking for someone with experience with gardening and small construction projects. This project was perfect for Merv and he immediately volunteered to help her out. He’s been helping out in the garden and where ever he can five to six days a week since.
Before getting sick, Merv split his time between theKnoxvillearea andAtlantaworking on different construction projects. Some local projects he worked on include theTitanicMuseum,SevierCountyWildlifeCenterand Sevierville City Jail.
Merv says he’s thankful to be part of The Salvation Army’s mission and for the wonderful friends he’s met here and the spiritual support they’ve given him. “I love helping out here,” Merv added. “It’s good for my spirit and I’m thankful that you are letting me help those less fortunate with you. I don’t have a lot but I enjoy giving back.”
Thank you, Merv for being a shield and for doing the most good!
Neighbors In Need
On May 18, The Salvation Army of Knoxville and the local NBC affiliate, WBIR delivered a large truckload of donations to those affected by the deadly storms that recently ripped through Bradley County. For five days preceding the delivery, Knoxvillians generously donated items at eight area Wal-Marts while WBIR gave viewers daily donation updates. The thousands of pounds of donated food, cleaning supplies, household items and pet care items were a welcomed sight for those who desperately need it.
“With over 500 homes considered unlivable inBradleyCounty, the devastation was immense and right now, the need is for everything,” said Joel Rogers, Youth Director for The Salvation Army of Cleveland, Tenn. “They need all the basic supplies that we all use everyday and take for granted. We’ve been so blessed that theKnoxvillecommunity and the Channel 10 viewers stepped up to the plate to send us some of the needed items.”
While in Cleveland, WBIR broadcasted their Live at Five at Four show live from The Salvation Army distribution center on Barneys Lane. The whole hour-long broadcast focused on the recovery efforts in BradleyCounty. Click here to see segments from the show. Thanks to WBIR, Knoxville-area Wal-Marts and to those who donated for doing the most good.
The Salvation Army of Knoxville Blog 