National Salvation Army Week highlights community impact and celebrates service
(COLORADO SPRINGS) — National Salvation Army Week has been celebrated every year since 1954. This year it runs May 13 through May 19 and it’s an opportunity to celebrate volunteers, donors, and beneficiaries of the organization, and also highlights all the past and current successes it has had in the community through its many programs.
Captain Doug Hanson, Divisional Secretary for El Paso County, and Jeane Turner, Community Relations Director for the local Salvation Army joined FOX21 Morning News on Wednesday, May 15 to talk about what the week means.
The Salvation Army has been serving El Paso County since 1889 and Hanson said about one in every 30 residents in the county uses their services. “We have our huge family shelter downtown, the largest one in the community, and that family shelter can house 31 families and it’s full almost every night,” said Hanson.
He added they also focus on serving veterans and they are now also one of the largest veteran service providers in the community. “We have transitional housing for veterans and a secondary veteran program for veteran families that prevents them from being homeless, or if they do hit homelessness we have a large pool of money from the VA to help get them back on their feet again.”
Turner said they are trying to use this week to spread the word about The Salvation Army and raise awareness about its many programs. “Social media is a great way to do that nowadays so if you go to our Facebook page which is Salvation Army Colorado Springs or our Instagram Pages, like us, share a post, tag a friend, you could win a diamond ring from Luisa Graff Jewelers,” said Turner.
Visit HelpColoradoSprings.com for volunteer and donor opportunities.
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