Army of volunteers needed for the holidays|[10/13/06]

Published 12:00 am Friday, October 13, 2006

Christmas is 10 weeks away and The Salvation Army in Vicksburg needs some help.

Actually, because most projects must be wrapped up well before the holiday season, the time period is even shorter for the new director of the church known for its community outreach.

&#8220We arrived here near the end of August and we have about a month to do three or four months of work,” said Capt. Patrick Lyons.

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One of the things The Salvation Army needs is people.

&#8220We are a volunteer-driven organization. Nothing we do happens without volunteers,” he said.

People are needed to man The Salvation Army’s familiar red kettles that can be seen during the Christmas season. Lyons said they will need those people and organizations from Nov. 18 when the kettles go out until Dec. 23 when they are removed.

Many of the people who staff the kettles are volunteers but some are paid by The Salvation Army for their work.

&#8220I don’t mind paying people to ring the bells,” Lyons said, adding the more volunteers he gets, the more money the local organization will have to use for operations the rest of the year when donations are fewer and farther between.

Another Salvation Army program Lyons needs to staff with volunteers is the Angel Tree Program. In that program, Christmas trees are put up at places like Pemberton Square mall and decorated with paper angels bearing the name of youngsters in disadvantaged families. The back of the angel lists the recipient of the gifts, clothing sizes, age and other details that will allow the adopter to buy Christmas gifts for the person. Those gifts are returned to The Salvation Army which distributes them.

&#8220We are looking to help 800 children or about 300 families” at Christmas, Lyons said.

In addition to the young people on the Angel Tree, Lyons said there will be about 120 senior citizens who live in area nursing homes without families to remember them at Christmas.

In addition to a work force to sort toys, other gifts and food for disadvantaged families, The Salvation Army also needs a place to warehouse and sort what they collect.

&#8220We are looking for about 7,000 to 8,000 square feet of space,” Lyons said.

One of the main requirements, he said, is it needs to be easily accessible.