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.

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.

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.