The Salvation Army in Des Monies, Iowa -- News

Red Kettle campaign still needs your help

    A record-setting giving surge on the last two days of the 2011 bell ringing season pushed the Salvation Army’s Red Kettle campaign much closer to its $1.1 million goal. On Dec. 23 a new single-day Des Moines Red Kettle record of $31,980 was set. On Christmas Eve donors deposited another $28,683 in the 60 Red Kettles in the Des Moines metro.
     Additional gifts made by mail, phone and online during the week after Christmas pushed the campaign total to $987,375 through Dec. 30.
     This total includes record-breaking contributions to Begie’s Kettle. Advisory Board member Begie Hefner annually hosts Christmas receptions in her home and asks her guests to make a contribution to the Red Kettle on her front porch. This Christmas Begie and her friends contributed $17,322, an increase of 15 percent over the previous year.
     Major David Corliss, The Salvation Army’s city coordinator in Des Moines, said he will keep the mail, phone and online portion of the campaign open through January to help reach the goal.
     The $1.1 million target is 17 percent greater than the 2010 Red Kettle total but is necessitated by a significant increase in demand for services and a significant cut in funding by a major funding source.
Contributions may be sent to P.O. Box 933 in Des Moines. Credit card donations can be made by telephone at 1-800-SAL-ARMY or online at www.salvationarmy-desmoines.org.

Feed the Need serves 500 this year

     The annual Feed the Need breakfast and Christmas party for Des Moines’ homeless population served some 500 guests from Des Moines shelters and homeless camps on Dec. 17. That is the largest number of breakfasts served in the six year history of the program.
     Feed the Need is cosponsored by Des Moines area Burger King restaurants, Des Moines Area Regional Transit (DART) and The Salvation Army.
     After a hot breakfast at the downtown Burger King, each adult was given a gift of ten DART bus tokens and each child received a gift from Santa. DART also provided free round-trip bus transportation from the shelters.
     The Walnut Hill Choral Society from Living History Farms and a Salvation Army brass ensemble serenaded guests with Christmas carols.

Christmas assistance program diversifies

     The Salvation Army’s Christmas assistance program in Des Moines diversified in 2011 with strong growth in the Adopt-A-Family program.
     The Adopt-A-Family program created a Merry Christmas for 76 families this year, more than double the number of the previous year.
     Organizations and businesses adopting families in need provided groceries for the family and gifts for each member of the family. A total of 184 children received gifts through the Adopt-A-Family program last month.
      The traditional Christmas assistance program provided groceries for 1,008 families last month and toys for 1,992 children.
     The Salvation Army is one of several human services programs in the metro that participate in a clearing house program designed to eliminate duplication of assistance. This allows each agency to better serve those in need.
     The Prison Toy Lift project provided toys for 408 children whose mothers are incarcerated at Iowa’s prison for women in Mitchellville.
      The toys were selected by the mothers from samples taken to the prison in October. The gifts were mailed to the children’s homes with no identification of The Salvation Army. Mothers wrote a “love note” to each of their children; the note was included in the child’s gift package.

Needs study is completed; strategic plan is next

     The advisory board of The Salvation Army in Des Moines will meet in special session on January 21 to work on a strategic plan for the future of the organization. The plan will be based in part on data collected through an intensive needs study of the Des Moines metro.
     The study was conducted by The Timothy Group of Grand Rapids, Mich., throughout 2011. Researchers interviewed scores of individuals in the metro including community leaders, advisory board members and staff. “Man-on-the-street” interviews were conducted in neighborhoods served by The Salvation Army and at the Des Moines Farmers Market.