Service Celebrates Accomplishments of Children

Two Sundays ago, youth at The Salvation Army in Bloomington were recognized. In pews filled with family, friends and fellow Salvationists, the students came forward one by one to receive their deep blue sashes. Not only do these look great but they will hold a growing number of badges.

The badges are awarded through two systems: the Adventure Corps for the boys and the Sunbeam Program for the girls. The youth spend up to a month going through lessons on a particular topic and for their participation and ability to know the lessons the youth accumulate badges that eventually fill their sashes.

These aren’t new program either! Since the 1920s, the Sunbeam and Girl Guard programs have reached out to area youth to provide fun, safe activities focused on Christ. The Adventure Corps emerged in the 1980s in the United States for boys. The main point of all of these groups is to promote strong character growth in children.

If you’d like to learn more about either of these programs please contact Lt. Catherine Fitzgerald who oversees the progress of the children.

A Bake Sale in the Atrium

It turns out that the students at the College Internship Program’s Bloomington Center have been following the destruction and devastation caused by this month’s earthquake in Haiti. It was time to get involved, but what do you do to help with such a big problem?

Bake. And bake they did! The students filled the atrium of the Smallwood Apartment complex with cookies, bars and treats, hoping to raise $60. The students stayed there all day and finally brought in their cash box. With everything counted, the students raised $452.29 for the people of Haiti!

At The Salvation Army, we see this type of generosity frequently! We saw this at 9/11. We saw this in the gulf coast after Katrina. And we are seeing it now. Whether it’s a group of students doing what they can to help or the check that comes in that is meaningful in heart, the American people see the needs of others and respond in the resounding voice of compassion.

If you will, take a lesson from the bake sale in the atrium: when it comes to helping others, what matters is what’s in your heart. God supplies the rest.

…was blind, but now I see.

In his gospel, Mark describes the healing of a blind man from Bethsaida. Jesus restored his vision with his saliva and touch; on January 18th The Salvation Army will use Indiana University optometry faculty and students.

We’re asking you to spread the word to those who need vision screening and eyeglasses. It’s completely free and no insurance is necessary, however participants must preregister with The Salvation Army. These screenings begin at 9:00am at the Indiana Eye Clinic on 803 N. Monroe St. in Bloomington (click here for a map). Please direct questions to Monica Clemons our Social Services Coordinator. She is also the one with whom participants must register.

You can even download a flier to post and share: MLK Vision Day Flier.

This event is a part of the Martin Luther King Jr. Day 2010 Celebrations. For more information all the events planned for that day please visit the City of Bloomington’s website. 

This project is made possible through the City of Bloomington, the Lions Clubs of Bloomington and the Indiana University School of Optometry.

More Children Helped This Year

 We’d like to share with you three things about our Christmas efforts.

First, quite a few folks came to The Salvation Army for assistance, about 720 families to be exact. We were the most excited though, because we helped more children this year, about 7% more than last year. The best thing is, each one of those children recieved about eight items; that’s a lot of donated toys! But we couldn’t have done it alone.

Secondly, we are indebted to the army of families, youth groups, church groups, women’s auxiliaries and individuals who came together to make this a successful endeavor. Of course, the ultimate praise goes to the Lord who is responsible for the success of our plans (Proverbs 16:3).

Lastly, for you who are jazzed about pics, want to relive the experience, or couldn’t be there to volunteer check out our Flickr page.

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