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Recent News
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Published Tuesday, April 1, 2008 4:07 PM PDT
News
Salvation Army couple to ship out
Husband-wife
captains are reassigned to a new site after serving Glendale since 2002.
By Angela Hokanson
There is a saying among Salvation
Army corps officers - who are stationed in communities for years at a time
but can be reassigned when the organization needs them elsewhere - about how
one's job location intersects with one's mission as an officer.
The motto goes, "The Army can't put me where God can't use me," Salvation
Army Capt. Jim Sloan said.
Sloan and his wife, Salvation Army
Capt. Barbara Sloan, have been calling on that expression of faith recently
as they digest the news that, after six years of living and working in
Glendale, the Salvation Army is reassigning them to continue their work in a
new, still-to-be-determined location.
They'll leave behind a trail of accomplishments and grateful residents, say
community members who have worked with them on Salvation Army programs or
other myriad organizations they have contributed to during their stay in
Glendale.
The Sloans are sad to be leaving so many friends they care about and ongoing
projects, they said, but they accept the move as part of their job, and they
know wherever they go next will bring new challenges.
"We've grown to love Glendale," Jim Sloan said.
The couple joined the Salvation Army in 1994. Jim Sloan had been a middle
school music teacher, and Barbara Sloan was the vice president of a bank.
After a year of training, they worked with the Salvation Army in Canoga Park
and San Jose before arriving in Glendale in 2002.
During their tenure, the Sloans helped realign the local branch's priorities
to give greater emphasis to needed initiatives like youth programs, they
said.
They helped create the Zone Academy, an after-school tutoring program for
middle school students, said Sheldon Baker, a former Glendale mayor and a
member of the advisory board of the Glendale Salvation Army.
"They have done such an incredible job here in Glendale," he said.
They also spearheaded a $1-million remodeling of the Salvation Army's
facility on Windsor Road, which has made the location a more inviting place
and has brought more residents in to use it, Baker said. Those renovations
included making the building wheelchair-accessible and installing technology
for wireless Internet use.
"They've taken our center we have in south Glendale and have rejuvenated it
thoroughly," he said.
Barbara Sloan used her background in banking to help free the organization
from its deficit. She has spent much of her time running the day-to-day
operations of the Glendale Salvation Army, which has freed her husband to
immerse himself in the community.
Jim Sloan is president of the Glendale Sunrise Rotary club and a member of
the board of directors of the Glendale Chamber of Commerce, among other
volunteer posts.
About a year ago, it was his idea to launch a citywide unity project, an
initiative that seeks to bridge cultural differences between the city's
diverse residents, said Zaven Kazazian, a Rotarian who has been working with
him on the project.
"He is such a leader," Kazazian said.
While the Sloans' departure will be a loss to the community, the good work
they have done will stay standing after they leave, said Stephen Ropfogel, a
friend of the Sloans and a member of the Salvation Army's advisory board.
"I think Jim and Barbara have a very proud legacy of what they have
accomplished," he said.
The Sloans expect to leave Glendale in late June and should find out in
mid-May where their new post will be, they said.
It is a bittersweet change but one they are willing to embrace, because they
committed to this kind of service when they joined the organization.
"It means I salute and move on," Barbara Sloan said.
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Published Saturday, March 29, 2008 12:13 AM PDT
Opinion
EDITORIAL:
Pitch in, and we can make a difference
Open those cupboards, grab some
peas, beans, rice and or pasta, and get them over to the Salvation Army.
That simple act could be the first step to making a difference in people's
lives.
Just ask Salvation Army
representatives, who are seeing a 60% increase in the volume of clients
coming to the army's relief center for food and are running low on
supplies.
The bottom line is, at a time when economy is taking a sever dip, the
Salvation Army is hurting, and needs food staples to keep up with the demand.
But this does not need to be a crisis.
If everyone in the city brought one can of food down to the Salvation Army
or in a city of 200,000 if even half participated there would be no
more food shortage.
And let's face it, everyone has a can of string beans or something of the
like in their cupboards that bought by mistake or they don't know where
came from. Or how about when you go grocery shopping this weekend and see
that those Betty Crocker instant mashed potatoes are on sale, or that those
cans of soup are four for $1, you throw a couple in the cart to help out.
Now is a time to harness the energies of local organizations and people to
make sure that a treasured local organization that has never failed to
come through for the needy is able to serve its vital role.
Already, some are leading the way.
The Glendale Kiwanis will hold a food drive among its 200 members at an April
meeting, and Kiwanians are already reaching out to groups such as the Key
Club at Holy Family High School and the Action Club to collect bags of food.
That's the kind of energy that should be an example for all of us, even if
it's just grabbing a can of corn out of the cupboard and driving over to a
drop-off point.
Schools could get involved, too.
There is no doubt, it is a difficult time in America. Many are hurting
financially, and perhaps have less to give. But an organization that helps
the neediest among us needs a helping hand and we need to lend it.
Even with less to give, if more people offered food the Salvation Army would
have more to give to help the worst off.
The Glendale Salvation Army serves between 200 and 250 families each month,
and has not let anyone go without during this shortage, but it has had to dip
into its own funding for other programs to continue meeting the increased
demand.
That can only go so far for an organization whose very existence is based on
goodwill.
In 2007, the Glendale Salvation Army served 2,500 families with grocery or
utility assistance. It served 53 million meals throughout the country last
year.
Those are the kind of numbers we are dealing with.
Unfortunately, we can't completely control the economic factors that lead
to such staggering need in this nation.
But giving the organization the ability to deal with those numbers is
something we can control.
It's time to do it.
Food items or cash donations can be delivered year-round to the Salvation
Army at 320 W. Windsor Road.
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Published Wednesday, March 26, 2008 12:09 AM PDT
Salvation Army struggles through trying times
By Chris Wiebe
GLENDALE "A sluggish economy is
taking its toll on the Glendale Salvation Army, where officials are seeing a
60% increase in clients who come to the relief center for food, and supplies
just can't keep up.
The spike occurred through November, December and January, in comparison to
the same three-month period in 2006-07, Salvation Army Capt. Jim Sloan said.
"What we're being told is that
people are having to make decisions over paying their utilities or food, or
paying rent over food," he said. "We frankly can't keep up with
the demand that we're seeing."
The Glendale location is serving between 200 and 250 families each month and
has not turned anyone away, dipping in to funding from other programs to make
up the gap, he said.
Traditionally the army has two major food drives "one in May and one
during the December holiday season "which supply the inventory for
Salvation Army pantries throughout the year, Sloan said. But this year's
holiday food drive didn't stretch any further than the first of the year,
he said.
"Usually after Christmastime, we have enough food to last us in to
May," he said. "But this time it was gone in January and we're
scrambling to figure that out."
In attempts to compensate for the increased demand, Salvation Army officials
are reaching out to the community as well as the Boy Scouts and Glendale
Kiwanis, who have provided much support to past efforts, Sloan said.
The Kiwanis will hold a drive among its 200 members at an upcoming April 4
meeting, incoming club President Ron Baker said.
Kiwanians are also reaching out to other community groups, such as the Key
Club at Holy Family High School and the Action Club, which is affiliated with
the Glendale Association of the Retarded, to generate as many bags of food as
possible, Baker said.
"We're putting it out to as many organizations in the community as
possible to bring food that day," he said.
Community members who want to participate in the Kiwanians drive should
arrive to the Glendale Elks Lodge, 120 E. Colorado Street between 11:30 a.m.
and 1:30 p.m.
Food items or cash donations can be delivered year-round to the Salvation
Army on 320 West Windsor Road, Sloan said.
"We just need help on this thing and what we're looking for is primarily
staples like beans, rice and pasta and those sorts of things," he
said.
In 2007, the Glendale Salvation Army served 2,500 families with grocery or
utility assistance, among the 53 million meals the national Salvation Army
served throughout the country.
Kiwanis officials are hoping their April Drive will spur the community to
pitch into the effort, Baker said.
"The reason we're doing this is not only to help, but to get awareness to
the G community that there is this need," he said.
CHRIS WIEBE covers public safety and the courts. He may be reached at
(818) 637-3232 or by e-mail at chris.wiebe@ latimes.com.
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01.08.2008
Our Cupboards Are Bare
As gas and food prices continue to rise, we all feel the pinch in our wallets. But what if your budget was already so tight that you don’t have any room to be stretched? What if you were unsure where your next meal was coming from? More and more of our food pantry clients are finding themselves in that place. In the last 3 months of 2007, we served 34% more people than we did a year ago.
The economic pinch is affecting our donors too. This Christmas season, we had less food donated than ever before. Typically, our Christmas food donations will take us well into May. This year, we’re hoping to make it into February.
We try to give our Food Pantry clients two bags of food each month. One bag is canned goods and the other is dry goods. Our greatest need right now is for dry goods. Specifically, we need plain white or brown rice, spaghetti or pasta, and dried pinto beans. Canned goods are also appreciated.
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