[Southsider2k12]

http://thenewsdispatch.com/main.asp?Sectio...amp;TM=33263.34

Salvation Army Bells Set To Start
Horizon Bank CEO, his wife, challenge business community to help The Salvation Army.
COOLSPRING TOWNSHIP - Craig Dwight has offered a challenge to the business community, most especially financial institutions.

Dwight, president and chief executive officer of Horizon Bank, and his wife, Pam, have agreed to serve as chairs for this year's Salvation Army Campaign at Christmas.

Horizon employees will ring bells at the Jewel/Osco store on Friday and Saturday, Dec. 7 and 8, and the bank will match the kettle collection up to $1,000 a day.

"I would like to challenge other businesses to do the same thing," he said.

Dwight, who already serves on the St. Anthony Memorial Community Board, and on the regional board of Sisters of St. Francis Health Care, accepted The Salvation Army position with little hesitation.

This is his community, Dwight says, noting he grew up here. And he appreciates what The Salvation Army does.

"We see the work of The Salvation Army as a mission of love."

The average number of families seeking assistance from the food pantry has grown to 745. Last year at this time it was 600.

The Dwights plan to be active chairs.

"We want to help in any way we can," Pam Dwight said.

Contributions to the United Way have dropped in recent years and as a result, the United Way allocation to The Salvation Army has dropped from $78,000 to $13,000.

A successful Campaign at Christmas becomes essential to the year-round clients of The Salvation Army. While the Army collects donations of food for Christmas baskets and toys for children through the Angel Tree project, the kettle campaign provides the financial sustenance for The Army's work throughout the year.

Noting that Horizon Bank was a primary contributor to The Salvation Army's new building, DeNita Ton of the Salvation Army said she appreciates what the Dwights do for the community.

"I was so impressed with what The Salvation Army was able to accomplish from such a small space," Dwight said, referring to The Army's former quarters, a gray house on Green Street.

Dwight came to the rescue with financing when everyone realized the new building needed an elevator to serve the food pantry in the basement of the new building, Ton said.

The Dwights, with a history of contributing to the community and their appreciation for the work of the Army, seemed a natural choice for Christmas chair.

The official kettle season begins with a kickoff at 10 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 24, at Marquette Mall. Maj. Brian Burkett, Salvation Army corps officer, said volunteer bell ringers are vital to the kettle season.

"When we don't have volunteers, we pay someone to ring the bells," he said.

That can be expensive, but Ton remembers at least a couple of success stories even from that expense.

"A couple of people were in desperate need of jobs and because they were faithful and reliable, (Burkett) was able to write a glowing letter of recommendation and they did get full-time jobs," she said.

The Lions Club and Rotary will vie for the honor of collecting the most kettle money in a weekend.

Everything The Salvation Army does is inspired by its commitment to follow the path ordained in the teachings of Jesus Christ.

"Giving gifts at Christmas is how we respond to all the gifts we have been given," Burkett said.

Contact Deborah Sederberg at dsederberg@thenewsdispatch.com.

How To Help
Anyone who can help is welcomed by The Salvation Army during the busy Christmas season.

Here are a few opportunities:

• Contribute food for food baskets.

• Contribute toys through the Angel Tree or just bring new toys to The Salvation Army.

• Adopt a family in need of Christmas.

• On Dec. 1, stop by Al's supermarkets on Franklin Street and at Karwick Plaza for the Stuff a Sleigh event. Contribute. The Salvation Army expects to distribute 1,500 food baskets this year.

• On Dec. 7, from 7 to 10 a.m., stop by the McDonald's restaurant at 3507 Franklin St., for the Celebrity Coffee Pour. Have a cup of coffee poured by local officials and celebrities and make a contribution to The Salvation Army.

• Volunteers are needed to sort and pack food baskets at 9 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 15.

• Volunteers are needed to deliver food baskets to the homebound on Tuesday, Dec. 18.

• Volunteers are needed to help with distribution of food baskets and toys on Wednesday Dec. 19 and Thursday, Dec. 20.

For more information, call The Salvation Army office at 874-6885.

[Roger Kaputnik]

They should have little cards to give to the "needy" people advising them to give up extra stuff they cannot afford like cable tv, cell phones, internet, cigarettes, alcohol, junk food, etc.

[Southsider2k12]

http://thenewsdispatch.com/main.asp?Sectio...amp;TM=54497.73

Salvation Army To Host Thanksgiving Dinner

Deborah Sederberg
The News-Dispatch

MICHIGAN CITY - The Salvation Army will give its annual community Thanksgiving dinner from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 22. at The Salvation Army, lower level, 1201 Franklin St. Diners should use the Green Street entrance.

The Army needs donations of cooked food and volunteer time.

DeNita Ton, community services director for The Salvation Army, suggests donations of cooked turkeys and ham, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce, green bean casseroles, sweet potatoes, salads, dinner rolls, pumpkin pies and other desserts.

Volunteers are needed to help set up the dining room, to carve turkeys, to serve meals, to deliver meals to the home bound and to clean up when the event is over.

Cooked dishes may be brought by 10 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day to The Salvation Army, 1201 Franklin St., preferably in disposable containers. Prepared foods also may be brought to The Salvation Army from 9 a.m. to noon and 1 to 4 p.m.

Monetary donations are welcome as well. Mail donations to The Salvation Army, Box 14, Michigan City, Ind. 46361; or bring them to the office.

"Everyone is welcome," Ton said.

Donors are asked to call to report what they will bring. That call will allow planners to know what to purchase if anything.

For more information, call The Salvation Army at 874-6885.

Contact Deborah Sederberg at dsederberg@thenewsdispatch.com.

[Ang]

They should have little cards to give to the "needy" people advising them to give up extra stuff they cannot afford like cable tv, cell phones, internet, cigarettes, alcohol, junk food, etc.

ARE YOU KIDDING?!?!?!?! Those things are essential for life! One cannot live without them no matter how poor one is. You need cable to babysit the kids, cell phones to call the drug dealers, internet to chat with all your friends, cigarettes and alcohol to keep from beating the kids, and junk food--well that needs no explanation!

(WARNING: protect your keyboard--the sarcasm will start dripping off the monitor any second!)

[Roger Kaputnik]

Dang it! There goes another screen!

[Dave]

A Modest Proposal for preventing the children of poor people from being a burden on their parents -- by Dr. Jonathan Swift

[Roger Kaputnik]

No internet, cigs, booze, lottery, and so on does not hurt the kids, but actually saves resources for them. I write this after reading Swift's essay, which I have not read in a score of years.

[Dave]

Roger, did you get your copy of "A Modest Proposal" off your bookshelf, or did you follow the link?

I won't dispute the booze, cigs, etc., but I will dispute the internet. The world's largest ever reference library, available to anyone with a modem. It's a great learning tool for kids (subject to parental supervision, of course), and I believe that anyone who isn't internet savvy in 10 years (and I could argue NOW) is going to discover finding a job, or much of anything else, pretty difficult. No doubt that I would have an internet connection before I would have satellite or cable TV, and I'd have a computer before a TV set.

Heck, I hardly watch TV on TV anymore. Most of the shows I am interested in are on the net, and my machine can play DVDs. Everytime I see one of those huge LCD TV sets my first thought is "could I use that for a computer monitor?"

On the other hand, I think any parent who spends money on booze when their kids aren't getting good nutrition should be convicted of child abuse. Heck, I think parenthood should require licensing, but here endeth the digression!

[Southsider2k12]

Good point on the internet. I think it is one of those things where you get out of it, what you want to get out of it.

[Max Main]

Yes, internet. Not for porn, tho'; hey, maybe welfare benefits should be tied to good the children in the family are doing in school.