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The Salvation Army toy drive meets target
The Salvation Army’s annual Christmas Toy Drive for underprivileged children reached its target numbers, according to ministry leader Wayne Gillespie.
The Christmas Toy Drive sought donations of unwrapped toys for children of all ages, from infants through 18 years of age. It partnered with Bank of Hawaii’s Springs Plaza branch as the drop-off location for donations.
“Our toy drive went very well. We met our targets. This year, we wrapped the toys and Division of Youth Service staff distributed them amongst their various programs,” said Gillespie.
The ministry leader also thanked Bank of Hawaii for again helping the Salvation Army in last year’s toy drive.
“Rose Sumor and her staff at Bank of Hawaii did a tremendous job! Bank of Hawaii hosts our toy drive collection every year and we deeply appreciate all that they do for The Salvation Army,” he said.
The Salvation Army’s soup kitchen was also very busy during the holidays at its new location in Gualo Rai.
“We fed a lot of people and distributed a lot of food bags,” Gillespie said, adding that they served between 200 and 300 people during the holidays.
The Salvation Army’s soup kitchen used to be across Hopwood Junior High School in Afetnas. Gillespie said it took quite awhile for their clients to get used to their new location in Gualo Rai.
“Despite our best effort, it took awhile for our clients to adapt to coming to the new location but our numbers are now about where they were when we moved,” he sad.
The Salvation Army is a Christian Protestant church and international charitable organization structured in a quasi-military fashion. It reports a worldwide membership of over 1.5 million, consisting of soldiers, officers, and adherents known as Salvationists.
It was founded by Catherine and William Booth and is now present in 127 countries, running charity shops, operating shelters for the homeless, and disaster relief and humanitarian aid to developing countries.
