Be the Change

Volunteer with the Salvation Army

Volunteering can help ward off depression, give a sense of purpose to life, decrease stress, help us stay physically and mentally active, create new relationships and increase life expectancy, according to the the Mayo Clinic. In this sixth and final installment of TBY�s �Be the Change� Volunteer Series, we focus on volunteering with the Salvation Army in Cape Girardeau.

It�s a Thursday afternoon at the Salvation Army in Cape Girardeau, and Ethel Mize is helping out in the food pantry. Mize smiles and chats with each person who walks through the doors as she fills out the paperwork so customers can receive food. Mize, from Oak Ridge, has volunteered with the Salvation Army for approximately 20 years. In addition to working at the food pantry, she also helps serve the end-of-the-month meals and the yearly Thanksgiving meal with the organization. She initially got involved through her church, which sent volunteers to the Salvation Army weekly; now, she is at the Salvation Army three days a week.

Ethel Mize, Salvation Army volunteer, assists Barbara Campbell with paperwork at the Salvation Army food pantry.Kassi Jackson ~ kjackson@semissourian.com

�It�s been a blessing to see the people come in and get their groceries and serve them the meal,� Mize says. �I really enjoy being around people.�

The Salvation Army is a church and community outreach center located at 701 Good Hope Street. Its mission, assistant youth minister Natalie Giles says, �is to get everybody that we can saved and bring them to Christ.�

Youth minister Tracey Smith adds, �And then if we can help them out in other ways along the way, we want to do that, as well.�

There are many ways to get involved at the Salvation Army. Volunteers are always needed for food preparation and serving the Meals with Friends at the end of each month, which serves approximately 175 to 200 people each week. The organization also needs bell ringers to collect money at the red kettles throughout the city during the holiday season. Volunteers also can help organize and hand out supplies at the food and coat pantries, or play instruments at the worship service on Sunday mornings.

There are also many opportunities to serve the 20 to 30 children and teens who regularly attend the Salvation Army�s after-school youth ministry. Smith and Giles say the youth ministry needs teachers for Bible studies and life skills classes, as well as people who are willing to share their careers and the steps they took to get their jobs with the youth, especially if they have a trade career that did not involve going to a four-year college. Playing sports with the kids and teens is also an avenue to volunteer with the youth ministry. There is also a Care Closet to which people can donate personal hygiene items.

Male role models are especially needed since both of the youth ministers are women, Smith and Giles say, although the most important aspect of volunteering with the youth is consistently showing up.

�They need to see that people care,� Giles says of the youth. �So the more people that come in and help and stick with it, they know, �Okay, I have somebody in my corner that cares for me, so I know I can achieve this. I have somebody to lean on.��

For Mize, it�s all about getting to interact with people. She worked in a factory for 25 years before working as a housekeeper at Southeast Hospital for 32 years. As a people person, she knew she wanted to volunteer somewhere after she retired from the hospital.

�I just love these people up here,� she says. �You just have to come and try it and see if you like it. The people are very friendly. You can find something [here] to make you want to volunteer.�