Salvation Army hopes to raise community awareness to better assist McHenry County residents in need
CRYSTAL LAKE – On Nov. 3, the Salvation Army (SA) Crystal Lake Corps hosted a luncheon at its Community Center (290 W Crystal Lake Avenue) in which distinguished guests such as McHenry County Chairman Mike Buehler and other township supervisors, were invited to learn more about one of the largest nonprofits in the world.
Residents may already be familiar with the Salvation Army’s fundraising efforts that come in the form of bell ringers standing beside that all too familiar red kettle.
“Bell ringing starts on Monday, [Nov. 8]. That’ll be in a lot of the Jewels. When [Nov. 20] starts, all the Walmart [stores] kick in. Then the day after Thanksgiving, everyone else joins in to place so then we really go from there,” said Jeff Pal, the volunteer and community relations manager for the Salvation Army of McHenry County.
Newly appointed SA Lieutenants Pablo and Nancy Rivera were installed to the McHenry County SA post in July from Chicago’s South Side and were on-site to welcome guests and answer questions regarding SA’s mission.
“We’re new officers here but we’ve been in the Salvation Army for over 15 years. We just came from Chicago. Chicago has been hit hugely with all the [civil unrest], the homelessness, all the COVID cases, people without jobs, people without food, people without homes. That’s who we were serving. You know, our pantry was serving over 1,000 people a week. 300% increase after COVID,” said Pablo. “Our goal this year [is] to raise money to help the people. Everyone that knows the Salvation Army knows what we do. We serve people. The money that comes in it goes out. We don’t have rich millionaire CEOs. That’s not what we do. The money that comes in goes out because that’s what we do. We want to serve. We want to provide.”
Pablo went on to explain that in addition to assisting community members in need, the McHenry County area Salvation Army also provides various programs for individuals of all ages.
“We have our own camp for sports, for teenagers, for families, Hispanic families, [and] music camps. We have a lot of camps that we offer to children in our community and most of these camps are free to them because we sponsor them with the goals that we get. The money that we get. We sponsor these kids to go to camps,” Pablo said.
He continued, “What we’re trying to do is get the kids from [outside], into here, a safe place…We have music lessons. We have professors of music from the college that volunteer their time to teach kids how to play music. It’s called ‘Guitar for Future Stars.’ So, once a child finishes their notes and their course for the first basic training, they get a free guitar and we had a few graduates last year.”
Additionally, Pablo told guests that the theme for this year’s fundraising campaign is “Hope Marches On.”
“As the Salvation Army, we march forward. We want to bring hope to all those in need. You know, toys for kids. The financial aid for people that don’t have money for rent, for their bills. We want to provide those things and we can only do that if we reach our goal,” he said. “You can volunteer. Two hours of volunteering will bring us maybe $150-$200. That’s good money. We can serve a lot of people with that. Put food on the table.”
McHenry County Circuit Court Judge and SA Advisory Board Member Mike Chmiel then stepped up to explain what makes the Salvation Army so integral to the community.
“The reason why I plugin here [is because] the Salvation Army gets it right with disaster relief. With social services…but at the end of that rope, if somebody goes through a fire, they lost their electricity, they’re facing the cold…again, in the middle of the night, law enforcement or the fire department, they call us [and we] come out,” said Chmiel.
“That’s why we plugin. We do our thing. We have an Advisory Board that has seats up to 16. We have a few openings the point is. But we have people from throughout the community and our Salvation Army covers the entire county. Once upon a time, it was just Crystal Lake. About a decade or so ago, we expanded to cover the entire county. So, the point is not only if there’s a fire in Crystal Lake, if there’s a fire in Hebron, the [Salvation Army Emergency Response Vehicle] is there helping.”
According to an SA press release, signs on the kettles will be equipped with Apple Pay and Google Pay technology, and for the first time this year, Venmo and PayPal, enabling donations with the tap of a smartphone.
All donations stay within the community in which they are given. Donations can be made at kettles or online at salarmychristmas.org.
Individuals in need of a hot meal around Thanksgiving are welcomed to come to the McHenry County Salvation Army post on Nov. 24 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Food will be distributed in to-go containers.
The Salvation Army is always looking for volunteer bell ringers. Interested individuals can sign up at registertoring.com.
“This season as history will tell [us] is when we raise the monies that support [our] efforts throughout the year,” said Chmiel.
