Maj. David Dean of the Salvation Army, shown at the current facility, says its food pantry will grow considerably when the organization moves to new quarters.
By Barbara Brewer La Mere
To say that Maj. David Dean of the local Salvation Army is a busy man this time of year is a grand understatement.
He and his wife, Cynthia, are co-pastors of the local church, along with having pastoral responsibilities at the church in Gloversville. They have been ministering to people in Warren, Washington, and northern Saratoga Counties since 2009.
Dean can be found, at various moments, preparing for the Salvation Army’s annual holiday dinner, headed out to work with bell-ringers that raise money during the holiday season, and moving toys.
If that weren’t enough, also on the horizon, following the busy events of the holiday season, is the relocation of the organization’s headquarters.
The Salvation Army will move from its current four-story quarters in a former boys academy on Chester Street to a single-story location at the former St. Alphonsus School (most recently occupied by BOCES Broad Street Teaching and Learning Center).
The Salvation Army, in Glens Falls since 1885, has occupied its current location for 57 years. Dean looks forward to “less wear and tear” on staff and volunteers just from being all on one floor.
The group used the new building already this year, as the center of its distribution of Thanksgiving meals. Social worker Lee Cleavland said it was the easiest distribution of a Salvation Army holiday meal that he has seen in more than 20 years of working with the organization.
Dean said he is pleased that the new location will be close to low-income housing whose residents may benefit from what his organization has to offer.
Renting out the new facility’s gym to those in the community who might like to use it could offer a means of fund raising, as well as providing a way for the Salvation Army to integrate itself more into the general community.
Property that the Salvation Army owns on western La Rose Avenue is currently under contract for liquidation. Once the organization has vacated its Chester Street headquarters, that property will be on the market, Dean said. The St. Alphonsus Church property will be for sale as of the first of the year.
The Salvation Army’s working in the community are numerous.
As a worship center, the Salvation Army holds regular Sunday services and Sunday school, offers ministry and Bible studies for men, women and children, conducts choirs and a brass band, and provides nursing home visits.
As a social ministry, Salvation Army provides emergency housing for people who have become displaced or who have needed to flee a situation of domestic violence. They provide utility assistance to people at risk of losing electricity and heating services and rental assistance to those facing eviction.
The Salvation Army runs a food pantry that provided 38,000 meals from Oct. 1, 2011 to Sept. 30, 2012, according to Dean. About 80 people a week benefit from the Salvation Army’s soup kitchen.
An emergency prescription program helps people who need a medication refill, but lack the cash or insurance to pay for it. Some 16,000 people benefited in the past fiscal year from the gleaning program through which Price Chopper and Hannaford grocery chains offer day-old baked goods to those in need, Dean said.
In addition, some 10,000 items of clothing were distributed to needy people. Free furniture is distributed as well. For Thanksgiving 2011, the Salvation Army distributed food baskets to 1,501 people and 501 families (1,781 people) received Christmas gifts from the Salvation Army in 2011, Dean reported.
This year, he said, there was lots of community support for Thanksgiving basket contributions, with a couple of big community food drives helping the organization to get through Thanksgiving “fairly well.” As of Dec. 5, there looked to be between 460 to 480 families seeking help with Christmas meals and gifts.
Each family will be referred to an agency that seems best able to meet that particular family’s needs. He said kettle collections are ahead of last year’s pace, but walk-in and mailed-in contributions were running behind previous years.
In 2011, the Salvation Army distributed 2,600 new toys at Christmas. On Dec. 5, with toy drives still in progress and three weeks till Christmas, the organization had received only 200 toys to distribute, he said.
People interested in donating can contact the Salvation Army at 792-1960 or e-mail Dean at david.dean@use.salvationarmy.org. Information about the local Salvation Army chapter is available on the Tri-County United Way website, http://tcuwny.org.