Entries by j_massey

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Family’s special Christmas tree still warming hearts in northeast Florida

Family’s very special Christmas tree warming hearts in northeast Florida By: Brad Rowland
With the holiday season approaching and the potential for colder temperatures, a fourth-grade student named Zoey Brown sprang into action.
Zoey, who attends PVPV-Rawlings Elementary School in Ponte Vedra, Florida, was inspired by The Salvation Army’s Angel Tree program and, with a bit of help from her family, she created the “Tree of Warmth,” attracting attention from across the Jacksonville area.
Zoey, whose grandmother, Pam Brown, is the sister of Major Candice Biggers, drew her initial inspiration from an otherwise innocuous conversation during a family dinner.
“From my understanding, the trigger for this initiative was a conversation we were having during dinner with Pam, her husband, Steve, and their grandchildren,” said Major Keath Biggers, Jacksonville area commander.
“We were discussing the Angel Tree, and one of the children, Bronx, began calling it the ‘Homeless Tree’ by mistake. We..

January 13, 2020 by
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Serving the community and staying prepared with ‘Feed the Need’ program

Tallahassee meets community, stays prepared with ‘Feed the Need’ program By: Brad Rowland
With Hurricanes Hermine, Irma and Michael making landfall in the area within the last half-decade, The Salvation Army of Tallahassee, Florida, is all too familiar with on-the-ground disaster work. With that as the backdrop, the Army saw an opportunity to both maintain its readiness for emergency disaster services and serve the population of Leon, Gadsden and Wakulla counties on a regular basis.
The result is the “Feed the Need” program, deploying each week to serve hot meals in the community and address an emerging local issue of food insecurity. Simultaneously, these deployments allow The Salvation Army to stay sharp, expanding a volunteer base and maintaining crucial equipment for a time when an immediate need arises.
“Our goals for ‘Feed The Need’ are two-fold,” said Julie Smith, social services program coordinator in Tallahassee. “First, we can meet the needs of people in our community that..

January 7, 2020 by
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The Salvation Army helps woman overcome obstacles to achieve NASA dream

The Salvation Army helps Houston woman overcome obstacles, achieve her dream career at NASA Mejean had always loved everything about space, NASA, and technology, but her dream to go to college kept getting postponed.
First, she began a career in law enforcement to help her family with finances, and then she became a mother of two. She always held on to her dream of becoming an engineer and joining NASA, though. She decided to pursue her dream shortly after becoming a mom.
Her family had always been “just okay” living paycheck to paycheck, but after Mejean quit her job to become a full-time student, things became harder for her family. Her husband, Ray, became the sole breadwinner.
Then tragedy struck.
Mejean was hit by a car. Ray quit his job immediately to take care of his wife and tend to her every need. At the time, Mejean was a University of Houston student pursuing a computer engineering degree. The bills began to pile up, and their finances spiraled out of control. They lost ..

November 22, 2019 by
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Salvation Army Supporter Helps Build Playground for Homeless Children

Salvation Army supporter in Jacksonville, Florida brightens lives By: Antoinette Vitale
Richard Stetina has fond memories of going to parks as a child. He still can recall every detail of the ones that are most special to him. When he took a tour of The Salvation Army’s Towers Center of Hope and the Red Shield Lodge shelter for women and families, the playground made an impression on him – but not for the right reasons.
It was old, in disrepair and clearly in need of some love. After he went home, the playground kept coming up in his mind. Finally, he decided that he needed to do something about it.
“I went home, and I guess it was two or three days before I started thinking about it again,” Stetina said. “And I thought, you know, I could so something that would be better. I made my proposal, it was accepted, and here we are today.”
Stetina could have just written a check and felt good about the difference he made. But he isn’t that kind of fellow. He researched the best playground..

September 12, 2019 by

Karen’s Hurricane Irma Recovery Process

  By Robin Wendell – Donor Services/Cultivation Manager In October 2017 Steven Carpenter was hired to be a Disaster Caseworker at The Salvation Army’s Operation Lasting Hope Disaster Assistance Center (DAC). He had no idea what to expect, he just knew that he liked helping people. Since then Steven has closed more than 81 disaster […]

September 12, 2019 by
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‘Overcomer’

“Overcomer” is a production of Affirm Films, the faith division of Sony Pictures World Wide Acquisitions and is produced by Stephen Kendrick and Aaron Burns and is directed by Alex Kendrick.
In 1999, Kendrick became associate pastor of media at Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany, Ga. He took his brother’s sermons and made them into movies.
“The Lord gave Alex story lines, while at the same time, He gave me scriptures about that same topic,” said Stephen. “So, the Lord gives him the ‘Fireproof’ story line while I’m studying marriage, covenant, and love; the Lord gives him the ‘Courageous’ story line, while I’m studying fatherhood at the time. When I was leading the prayer ministry at the church, the Lord gave Alex ‘War Room,’ and so, we’re working together.”
“Flywheel,” their first movie featuring a used car salesman, came about after church goers donated $20,000 and volunteered their time and talent. The Kendrick brothers have since produced six films.
“On ‘Overcomer,’ I’ve been s..

August 22, 2019 by