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Salvationist and San Francisco advisory board member takes vacation time to serve in Haiti.
In one of her online posts, Salvation Army blogger Laura (blog.salvationarmyusa.org) shared the story of volunteer Craig Arnold, a director for United Parcel Service (UPS) in northern California. His story was featured in USA Today on Sunday, Jan. 24 (https://tiny.cc/D80Pr).
(Jan. 25, 2010) [In a recent post] we told you about UPS’s help with The Salvation Army in coordinating flights and shipping more than 80,000 pounds of food and water to Haiti through the Dominican Republic. They’ve been a significant resource in getting our major emergency supply shipments out of our storage warehouse in Miami on to the ground where help is needed most.
In addition to their planes, UPS has also dispensed another invaluable resource that is making an impact on the ground—volunteer Craig Arnold. Craig is the sales director for UPS’s northern California region, but ever since disaster struck Haiti, he has been using his vacation time to work day and night in Port-au-Prince at The Salvation Army’s command center serving as a logistics coordinator and driver. He has seen firsthand the good and the bad, from the hordes of suffering patients being brought into The Salvation Army clinic to the new babies that have been born on the compound.
While Craig said he believes The Salvation Army’s long-standing 50-year relationship with the Port-au-Prince community has helped relief efforts, Craig himself also has an established relationship with The Salvation Army. His parents were Salvation Army officers for more than 40 years, and he currently serves as a San Francisco Salvation Army board member.
USA Today featured a story about Craig in their Sunday (Jan. 24) paper, quoting him on his most recent visit to the Haiti as “a life-changing experience,” and describing his amazement how Haitians’ “spirit has still been strong, how they don’t give up and how they are still helping each other.”
According to an interview he did for the UPS blog, Craig says much of his time is spent traveling the precarious roads to and from the Port-au-Prince airport in order to retrieve emergency shipments, relief workers, and medical teams. He has also been integral in helping with operations around The Salvation Army compound, including assisting with the massive feedings that have served more than 24,000 meal kits to Haitians.
Arnold’s contribution is “no surprise” to those who know him.
Volunteer consistently reaches out to other
When asked about Craig Arnold, Golden State Divisional Commander Lt. Colonel Joe Posillico wrote: “Craig is not only a board member but will be taking the chairman position in September. An executive with UPS here in San Francisco, he is also a lifelong Salvationist and current member of the Concord Corps. His folks are retired officers in the Central Territory.
“For the past year, Craig has served as chairman of the San Francisco Kroc Center Advisory Council. His leadership on the council helped to move the Kroc Center forward after its dedication and opening. The SF Kroc Center has now passed the 3000-membership mark, surpassing our membership goal. He was instrumental as well with working with the Aged Out Foster Youth program at Railton Place. During the Christmas season, Craig saw to the hiring of 10 of the AOFY residents for temporary Christmas work with UPS. He also worked with some of the young adults in an employment training program with UPS. Through Craig’s efforts, the Kroc Center and Railton Place each have received a $25,000 grant from UPS for program services and job training. Craig was also instrumental in getting UPS to sponsor the computer lab equipment and set up at the Kroc Center.
“Craig became a member of the SF Metro Board three years ago. He sits on the executive committee and serves as vice chair for the board. He has introduced at least two other new members to the board and continues to support and volunteer at different Salvation Army events here in the city. He has had an affinity for Haiti for some time, and goes on a mission trip to that country every year where he gives support to his college roommate who currently serves there with The Salvation Army.
“It was no surprise that he would be off to that country within three days of the disaster, taking vacation time and UPS support with him.”