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Salvation Army ministry has many practical expressions, as this corps officer has learned.
“Strange but true! What do you do when a truck pulls up full of adult diapers?” asked San Bernardino Corps Officer Major Jacqueline Fritz. “First of all, I quickly thought about where to put them; I had just cleaned out a room we had used at Christmas, so there they went. I saw the floor for about an hour.”
Fritz then called different people in the corps and auxiliary who had friends with this need. They were happy to pick them up and deliver them for her.
Next, she contacted Unlimited Vision, which has homes for adults who are mentally ages 3-5. “They were thrilled to take some for their program for emergency uses,” Fritz said.
After that, she called a low-income senior center at the end of their street; she was told many of the residents needed them. Within half an hour the remaining diapers were picked up, along with 60 loaves of bread left over from the morning delivery.
In all, 40 persons got 804 diapers.
And that’s not all the corps finds a use for….
The Women’s Auxiliary set a goal of collecting 5,000 pill bottles for Africa. “The local African American church will deliver them,” Fritz explained. “They will go to their clinics in Africa to be used for dispensing medicine. Today, the SATERN group met for a seminar and brought in 80. We have received 114 towards our goal of 5,000—in just three days. A volunteer cuts off the labels and cleans the containers.
They also collect eyeglasses for use around the world, as well as tabs from cans, which CSM James Lamm is collecting for a Ronald McDonald house.
Campbell Soup labels are also being gathered, to use for buying computer equipment.
“We are now known as the recycling officers,” Fritz said.
