Maj. Linda White will never forget the Christmas she spent serving the Salvation Army in San Angelo, Texas, nearly a decade ago. A needy family was scheduled to pick up a box containing food and Christmas gifts, but no one ever showed up.
As the evening grew later, she decided to find the family herself and make sure they had a happy holiday.
When she walked into the family’s house, she saw one humble present beneath the tree — a little boy had made a gift at school for his mother. That was all they had, until White appeared bearing an armload of gifts.
“It was just a blessed Christmas,” White recalled Friday afternoon. “We spend a lot of hours working, but when you see the families and see you’re doing something to help people, it’s worth all the hard work we do.”
Monday kicks off the Salvation Army’s busiest season, with applications being taken from 9 a.m. to noon from families in need of Christmas assistance.
In Lowndes County, applications will be accepted at the Salvation Army’s main office at 2219 Main St. on Oct. 24-26, Oct. 28, Oct. 31 and Nov. 1-3.
She will be at First United Methodist Church in Macon Nov. 4 and at First United Church in West Point Oct. 27.
Families in need of holiday financial assistance will need to provide proof of income and expense. They will receive notification by mail in early December if they are chosen to receive aid.
In addition, White is currently seeking volunteers to man the organization’s red donation kettles, which will be installed at 12 Lowndes County sites Nov. 18. Two-hour or longer shifts are available from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday from Nov. 18 to Christmas Eve.
Around 200 volunteers are needed, and White said if enough volunteers aren’t found they have to hire people to ring bells, limiting the amount of families that can be served.
Volunteers are also needed to work at the Salvation Army’s Angel Tree location in Leigh Mall beginning next week. The Angel Tree allows needy families to specify things like children’s coat or shoe sizes, desired toys, etc.
And, of course, if people wish, they can participate in the Adopt-A-Family program, opting to take care of a family’s complete holiday needs, from food to gifts to other expenses.
White and her husband, Maj. Paul White, director of the Salvation Army of Columbus, moved to the Golden Triangle in June, but she said even though this is their first Christmas in the area, they expect the need to be great due to so many people without work.
Although national unemployment figures for August are 9.1 percent, Mississippi’s unemployment level was 10 percent, and percentages for the Golden Triangle and surrounding counties were even higher, with Lowndes County at 10.7 percent; Oktibbeha County, 10.4 percent; Noxubee, 16.8 percent; and Clay, 18.2 percent.
Poverty levels in the state were even more staggering, based upon 2009 reports from the United States Census Bureau. Approximately 21.8 percent of Mississippians lived below the poverty threshold, with 25.6 percent in Lowndes, 32.9 percent in Oktibbeha, 34.3 percent in Noxubee and 26 percent in Clay.
The Salvation Army was founded by William Booth in London in 1865. The Protestant Christian Church has a mission of helping the less fortunate year-round, but it is best known for its Christmas charity campaigns.
For more information about how to apply for aid or how to volunteer, please call Maj. Paul White at 662-327-5137 or 662-435-4204.
Carmen K. Sisson is the former news editor at The Dispatch.
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