Faith in Action on South Hill

While every Christmas shows up on the doors of numerous families struggling to make ends meet, the challenges, loss and struggle of Christmas 2020 seems to surpass the rest. Enter the Salvation Army Corps of Puyallup, headed by Captains John and Kyna Kelley. Along with the help of the South Hill Stake of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, they were able to serve over 300 Puyallup families with food and presents this Christmas.

The Kelleys have been heading up the Puyallup chapter of the Salvation Army for the last 3 years. During this time they have used their specific talents to create a beautiful, charitable, open space for those in the community to come. As of last February, they were providing not only lunch everyday from their brand new commercial kitchen, but weekly medical clinics, social services and career path through DSHS ....... Until COVID hit, that is. Not only were they then unable to provide these much needed services with all of the restrictions, but the need became greater than ever. This challenge presented the Kelleys with an opportunity to reimagine ways to minister to people. From accepting monetary Red Kettle donations via QR code to enhancing their Adopt-a-Family program where an individual or business is able to provide Christmas needs for specific families, nothing stopped their collaboration with the community and faith-based organizations on behalf of those in need.

Every year the Salvation Army of Puyallup teams up with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, taking food and monetary donations at their Annual Christmas Concert. In leiu of a concert this year, the two faith-based organizations worked together to gather the donations through local Church congregations as well as the Salvation Army's Angel Tree Program, with trees on display at Walmart, JC Penney and the South Hill Mall. From there the majority of the items were distributed from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints chapel parking lot on 94th on South Hill. With the help of dozens of volunteers, each family received food, gift cards, and every child was given no less than 3 presents from their wish list.

Not only were the lives of those served greatly blessed this season, but so were those who came to volunteer. Kathryn Ward and her family were there to distribute the donations.

"We appreciated the coordinated efforts of the Salvation Army and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in organizing this community outreach. It was a joy for our family to help deliver bags of gifts and food boxes to the vehicles of families in need in our community. We were impressed with how organized everything was, which allowed us to focus on the families who were being served. This was a highlight of our Christmas season, helping us to feel in a powerful way, and share, the love of Him whose birth we celebrate."

With all of the stress this year has brought, being able to simplify and focus on those in our communities, serving each other and reaching out with love and kindness is the perfect balm to heal our souls and uplift our spirits. Another volunteer, Jen Evans, came with her daughters and son-in-law to help. She said, "Participating in opportunities to reach out and lift the spirits of others helps to strengthen our communities and brings a greater feeling of hope and joy! These opportunities may be small, but they surround us daily. We are grateful that we had the chance to bring a little happiness to others this holiday season."

These opportunities truly are around us every day. From finding what small things you can do in your own sphere of influence to going on JustServe.org to find local service opportunities in your area, getting outside of ourselves and touching the lives of others can help bring the much needed joy into life.

It is the great influence for good embodied by the Kelleys of the Salvation Army Corps of Puyallup, the volunteers from the South Hill Stake of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and the hundreds of community members who donated their time and money to bless the lives of the less fortunate make the world, and specifically Puyallup, a wonderful place to be.

May we all be so fortunate to spend our days reaching out in love and service to each other, not only during the Christmas Season, but every day of the year--only under such circumstances will our communities thrive.