By Thomas HardingThroughout the holiday season, the Salvation Army has been pushing initiatives such as the Angel Tree Program and food pantry to give relief to those in need.
Administrator of Salvation Army Grant County, Ray Daniels, said the primary issue people face during the Holiday season is food scarcity.
“We have found that we are up 20% in new clients,” said Daniels.
To receive food, clients come to the pantry and are allowed to select a few items in a grocery shopping fashion.
The Salvation Army runs the food pantry in their Marion location Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
“We also do what they call Angel Tree, which is going on right now,” said Daniels. “(It is) a Christmas thing where we serve kids from birth to 12 years old. They come in and they fill out an application, and then we have a little tag that we put on trees. What (people can) do is they’ll take the tag off, they’ll shop for the child, and then they bring it back here.”
Sarah Welch, the Angel Tree coordinator, oversees gathering and sorting Angel Tree toys. Welch and her team of volunteers sort through toys in the Marion Salvation Army gym.
“We are sorting out the gifts that come in and bagging them up so that the families can come and pick up their gifts,” said Welch. “They’re really grateful. And some of them cry, and it makes you want to cry,”
The Salvation Army does all they can to do good in their community but Social Media Coordinator and Marion Secretary James Wilkins said their resources are in short supply.
“Our funds are limited,” said Wilkins, “It’s really hard to say no to a homeless person or someone that’s really desperate for food. There’s the joy of providing the food pantry and the Angel Tree, but also the kind of sorrow for needs we can’t meet, especially with homelessness.”
The Salvation Army’s distribution day for the Angel Tree program is on Dec 19.
Emily Lamb 
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