The Story Behind the Cereal

A few weeks ago I was sitting at work when we received a phone call from a local news station. A story had not panned out and they wanted to know if they could do a story on our food pantry. We all did a little happy dance, a big happy dance, and said YES!

Happy Dance!

Why the happy dance? Well, if you happened to catch the story you would have heard that our pantry has been in a bit of trouble.


School was about to begin. Lunches needed to be packed. Budgets were stretched due to the increased cost of school supplies and to top it all off we were running out of food in many of the categories we offer. We had no breakfast items left on the shelf. Items like macaroni and cheese, peanut butter and jelly, and fruit were quickly becoming depleted. As staff we were cutting back on how much food we were giving out and discussing options for our quickly diminishing pantry. Enter the phone call and subsequently the happy dance!


Once the story ran, and awareness spread, our community began to respond. Cereal showed up at our door, as well as, supplies of peanut butter, jelly, and much more. Two separate businesses even went shopping to help us stock our shelves. We were all touched by the generosity of the community, but it took a special donation for us to really understand the impact of stocked shelves.

One afternoon, after a particularly busy day, an elderly gentleman walked into our lobby. He said he had some cereal to donate and would like some help bringing it into the building. There were two of us still at work so we grabbed a cart from the backroom and headed out to lend a hand. The man had quite a few bags in the back of the car and as he handed them to us we loaded up the cart. We thanked him for his generosity and let him know just how much it meant to us that he was willing to help others in need.

It was then that he turned to us and asked if we would like to hear the story behind the cereal. My co-worker and I exchanged a look of intrigue and agreed. He began to tell us his story.

Many years ago he was a young man, newly married. His wife had just given birth to a baby boy. Their son was seven days old when this man was called away to war.  Times were tough, the draft was in full force, and rations were in short supply. This man’s wife and baby ended up sick and struggling to find adequate food. He told us about how she found a Salvation Army and went to them hoping that they might be able to do something. With tears running down his cheeks, this humbled man told us
                                                “You saved them. You saved their lives.”

Guys, this is what the Salvation Army is all about. We help people. But more than that, if we really break it down – you help people. The Salvation Army is made up of basic things. We have a building, a church, a staff and the resources that you provide. When this man’s wife and child showed up on the doorstep of that Salvation Army many years ago they would have welcomed her with open arms. They would have held her hand, prayed with her, talked to her and offered to be there for her. But, they would not have been able to feed her, “to save her” from starvation without the support of their community. That is the power of your generosity.

So, the next time you are in the grocery store and you see a box of cereal, think of us and consider buying just a few extra groceries to help stock our shelves or stop by and give a donation to help support your community. Better yet? I want to challenge you to be intentional. Plan a day to go shopping specifically for the purpose of giving back, or get out in your community and serve, or simply share this post and spread the word that giving and serving others really does make a difference.

Super Couponer Donations!

We hear a lot about Coupon Moms and those super shoppers who use coupons and shopping apps to score amazing deals and cartloads of products for pennies on the dollar at times.  What we do not often hear about are the amazing generosity of these same people when they donate these loads of extra items to charities in need.


On August 3rd, 2015 a group of couponers from the SuperMom Couponing group and Coupon Addicts MQT Mi brought a large donation to the Marquette Salvation Army to help families who may struggle with those items we do not often find donated.  Food comes in regularly from our generous donors, but items like deodorant, shampoo, household cleaning products, and toothbrushes to name a few, are not often donated.  These are items which people who may be on fixed incomes, have no income, or only receive food stamps cannot afford to buy at times and so this will go a long way to helping with those other costs most people might not realize are a hardship for those in need.


All told, approximately 500 pounds of hygiene and household goods, as well as food, were donated to the Food Pantry to help our less fortunate neighbors.  Three trucks and numerous boxes were unloaded and now we're smiling as we stock our shelves and wait for the delight of our pantry participants as they see what surprises are waiting for them.


A large thank you to all the group participants who donated to this drive, and to Becky Morrison for setting it up for us. 

Thank you MARESA!

The Salvation Army of Marquette wants to extend a sincere and heartfelt THANK YOU to the MARESA Transition Program for all their help in serving lunches in Our Daily Bread lunch program each Wednesday.  Every week, this group of students prepare and serve a delicious lunch under the direction of their Coordinators, Kelli and Jill.

If you have a group who would be interested in assisting us with our lunch program, or some other area of The Salvation Army, we encourage you to contact us at (906) 226-2241 and we'd be happy to discuss the opportunities available. 

Calling all cooks!

Do you like to cook? 

Love a creative challenge? 

Enjoy working with people ?

The Salvation Army of Marquette is calling all cooks and chefs to lend us their cooking skills in our kitchen preparing and serving lunch in preparation for hiring a new cook later this year.  If you might be interested in cooking for us, or know someone who is, this is a great way to ‘audition’ for us and show us your skills.  It is also a good way to see how our kitchen differs from a commercial kitchen and whether it would be a good fit. 

We serve a daily lunch Monday through Saturday at 12:00noon for any member of the community who wishes to join us, as well as themed luncheons for different holidays and a few other events, such as our volunteer luncheon and donor breakfasts.  For more information or to see about volunteering for our program, please contact Cyndy Rankinen at (906) 226-2241.

The Salvation Army News

On Wednesday April 1st, ABC 10 visited The Salvation Army to get more information on NMU Cat Packs, feeding area children when they're not in school.  Watch the video above to see what Cat Packs are all about.  For more information or to find out how you can help out, contact The Salvation Army at (906) 226-2241.

On Thursday March 26th, ABC 10 visited the Salvation Army Thrift Store to find out more about our Saturday Bag Sales and the store in general.  Watch the video to see how it went and for more information, please contact The Thrift Store at (906) 228-2930.

Mom to Mom Sale Report

 

On March 21^st, 2015 the Salvation Army hosted our first Mom to Mom sale. 

·         With 25 tables available, we sold out of our spaces and saw hundreds interested in attending. 

·         A handful of area businesses made donations to the Salvation Army so they could add promotional materials to our attendee gift bags. 

·         Nearly 200 people showed up Saturday morning to shop from our 25 ‘Mom’ sellers. 

·         In total, the Salvation Army raised $593.75 which we could put towards debt relief. 

Also, we raffled off a family membership to the Children’s Museum for all our attendees, and the lucky winner was Daniel Parvu. 

We would like to thank all the sellers who signed up and came out to help make our event such a successful draw for area families, and thank the area businesses who donated and helped make our event a bit bigger and more interesting for all in attendance.  And last but never least, we’d like to thank all the staff and volunteers who gave their time and energy to help bring this entire event off without a hitch.  Overall it seemed like everyone benefited, and that was the ultimate goal.

L.U.N.Ch. starts March 28th, 2015!

 

On March 28th we will begin our Saturday L.U.N.Ch. program at 10:45a.m, and for our first gathering we've called for a Yooper Luau.  We can't always wait for the snow to go to have our backyard barbeques and beach parties, so wear your best winter and summer getups, and maybe, you'll even win a prize.