ORANGEBURG, S.C. (AP) - The Salvation Army, which has been serving the area since 1937, says it’s finding it difficult to provide the rent and utility assistance it once did.
“We receive about 83 phone calls a day asking for assistance and as soon as funding comes in, it pretty much goes right back out,” Salvation Army Capt. Wanda Long said.
She added, “It’s never a cookie cutter day. We handle needs on an individual basis.”
The Salvation Army provides low-income individuals and families with services, including emergency food support, utility payment assistance, lodging, clothing, furniture and rental assistance.
This past year, 4,807 individuals received food, 25,385 items were distributed, 98 families were saved from utility crisis and eviction and 24 families were helped with baby items and school items.
The Salvation Army operates an emergency food pantry at its social service office in Orangeburg, Long said. Donations of food and dry goods to the food pantry are welcome.
Long said 305 individuals have received 2,528 items of clothing through the social service office over the past six months, with 93 households receiving 1,140 home good items.
The organization is also seeing a growing number of homeless individuals and families who are housed in local hotels until shelter is found for them. Eighteen homeless clients have been served over the past six months.
“We average about one to two a week coming in. They need food, so we’re able to feed them. We have several people that have donated the drawstring backpacks that are used to store food and personal hygiene items in,” Long said.
Donations of pop-top canned food, baby formula, diapers, wipes, bottles, socks and underwear for adults and children are needed to help the organization serve the homeless.
The organization also operates a family thrift store, which provides clothes, furniture and household items for sale, with casual and work clothes and business attire for men and women being among its greatest needs, Long said.
“We sell the items within the community and that money generates right back into the community to help pay for utility, rent and other needs,” Long said. “We are down a little bit in donations as well as sales. Thrift stores are popping up everywhere, so we are just trying to bide the time.”
The organization also sends children and seniors to weeklong retreats at Camp Walter Johnson in Denton, North Carolina. Swimming, boating, fishing, archery and canoeing are among the camp activities that individuals can participate in.
“Our cost for the children to go to camp is $200 for the week. The cost for the senior camp is $100. We try to support them as much as possible so that there is little to no cost for the campers,” Long said.
The Salvation Army also works in conjunction with government and nonprofit agencies to provide food, personal necessities and shelter to disaster victims and first responders.
“Fires happen. Fires don’t discriminate, so at that point, people need you. They need somebody there that’s going to be compassionate enough to say, ’We’re here. What can we do to help?’ That’s what we do,” Long said.
During Christmas, the organization is able to provide basic needs for clients, meals for families and toys for children through initiatives such as its Stuff A Bus, Stuff A Stocking and Angel Tree projects, along with family adoptions and local food drives.
Long said the organization provided 918 children with 4,748 toys through the services provided at Christmas. Also, 621 angels were adopted, 525 stockings were collected, 108 seniors received food boxes and 135 meals were provided.
“The one thing that most people don’t realize is that we are a church first and foremost, but our goal is to help those that are in need. It’s not necessarily the ones that have been in need for the longest amount of time, but sometimes people lose jobs, there’s been a death in the family or sickness happens and there’s a need at that point,” Long said. “We’re able to address those needs as they come up on an individual basis for people.”
Long and her husband, Capt. Robert Long, have been commanders of the local Salvation Army since taking the helm in June 2012 after moving from Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
“We love this community, and I want to be in this community. I want not only to be visible for people to see that the Army is here, but to see what we can do to help those in the community that need us,” she said.
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Information from: The Times & Democrat, https://www.timesanddemocrat.com
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