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Southern California Division
I PROMISE…were the words of boys and girls who recited their troop pledge and motto recently at the Hollywood Temple Corps, where 34 youths were enrolled in the Girl Guards, Adventure Corps, Sunbeams, and Moonbeams, and five enrolled in Corps Cadets. Corps officers are Captains Carlos and Rosa Rodriguez.
“We were particularly happy about starting our smallest group, the Moonbeams,” said Raquel Moncada, Girl Guard and Sunbeam leader. Moonbeams is a Salvation Army program for girls from pre-K to kindergarten, which originated in Australia.
“No one in the Southern California Division had ever heard about it,” said Moncada. “But I saw the group name in the Lotus Notes Youth Resource Library. Rosemary Hernandez [now Moonbeam leader] looked them up on the Internet and found out that this group started in Australia and they had emblems, songs, and a pledge—everything a group needed to get started.”
The commanding officers in Australia were contacted, and sent a package with information about the Moonbeam program; a proposal was submitted and in time, Divisional Guard and Sunbeam Director Captain Candy Stennett informed them that the group was approved—the first Moonbeam group in the Western Territory.
Also supporting the youth are: Youth Leader Jonathan Rodriguez; Corps Cadet teacher Nancy Rodriguez; teacher and assistants Jenny Ruiz and Margo Rodriguez, Moonbeam assistant Mayra Lozano; Explorers teacher Carlos Lopez and assistant Ronald Gonzalez; and Ranger teacher Josue Arriaga and assistant Carlos Moncada.
