The Salvation Army GLENS FALLS
NEW YOUTH PROGRAMMING
“I’ve seen your building, and you have terrific programs. But what I’m wondering is, does The Salvation Army do anything for kids? We have a real problem in Warren County - the absentee rate is over 25% ”
Warren County Administrator John Taflan’s words left me stuttering The County Administrator had taken the time to come and meet Major Delia and myself just 2 months into our appointment at the Glens Falls Corps of The Salvation Army He took the time to walk through our building and see our food pantry, hygiene closet, and spent a few minutes visiting with the senior pickleballers in our gym But when we sat down at the end of the tour, he wanted to know what we were doing for the younger citizens of our community
Majors Stephen & Delia Carroll
After looking at the needs, our available resources and our volunteer base, we came up with two new youth programs:
“On The Mark” Archery was chosen first because I had held onto my archery credentials from a previous appointment where Major Delia and I were camp directors We were also able to get our initial equipment donated to us from the Niagara Falls Salvation Army who were not currently utilizing it. My then 15-year-old son agreed to start helping as my assistant coach and would take the course and test to become certified by ‘USAarchery’ after he turned 16 Our classes filled up quickly
Archery is a sport that teaches focus and patience It is particularly helpful for people who struggle with Attention Deficit and other behavioral disorders. As a result, archery is particularly helpful to students who struggle with attention, focus and patience in schools as well as other life areas Surprisingly, to some, archery is also one of the safest sports out there According to insurance industry standards the only sports with less reported injuries are bowling, table tennis, and badminton
Unfortunately, archery, especially Olympic style archery, has become a bit of a niche sport. If a child wants to participate in it, it can quickly become expensive Outside of the cost of equipment, it is often difficult to find a qualified coach Outside of the Glens Falls Salvation Army there are only 2 USA Archery certified coaches within 25 miles of Glens Falls Our programs are offered at no cost to the students
“Blood and Fire” Martial Arts is a Tae Kwon Do program that was designed specifically for the Glens Falls Salvation Army by Master Keith Becker, a 5th Dan Black Belt and lifelong member of The Salvation Army Becker used martial arts as a child into his teen years to overcome frustration and learn to positively channel anger The program, Blood and Fire Martial Arts, started in March of 2024 after we received grant monies to purchase the equipment needed to start.
Tae Kwon Do also has a direct correlation with improved focus and discipline and has been shown to result in better school grades The five tenets of Tae Kwon Do include: Courtesy, Integrity, Perseverance, Self-Control, and Indomitable Spirit Soon, our first students will have the opportunity to test for their first belt
Our journey to address the specific needs of our community’s young people more effectively is far from over. We’re close to the capacity of what we can do without impacting all of our other programing, so we believe it is time to add a youth worker who can be fully engaged with this important area of our work If we can effectively meet this need now, many of the young people we serve, will not need our services later in life
This began a journey to once again re-evaluate our local mission to Warren and Washington Counties The Salvation Army has been in Glens Falls for 139 years and part of its mission is to meet human needs ‘Which’ human needs it targets is left up to its local leaders with the help of its Advisory Board (external community board) and Corps Council (internal local board) DONATIONS TO THE SALVATION ARMY OF GLENS FALLS CAN BE MADE BY CASH OR CHECK WHICH CAN BE DROPPED OFF, OR MAILED TO: THE SALVATION ARMY OF GLENS FALLS
The Glens Falls Salvation Army depends on several ‘in-kind’ donations of bread, meat and various other groceries from stores, restaurants, farms, and even the gardens of some of our neighbors, to keep our food pantry stocked. This is especially true in the summer. As a result of our varied sources of food, we sometimes receive a donation that doesn’t quite suit our standard food pantry parcels. On this particular day, the donation was a hundred pounds of pork belly in twenty-pound slabs.
20 Pounds of pork belly is a lot of meat even for a large family and it is not something that everyone knows how to cook. When Major Steve Carroll was asked what to do with so much uncut meat, he smiled and said, “Get the grill out”
This generous donation of pork belly became the foundation of a weeklong community BBQ (Monday – Friday) this past August The staff and volunteers at The Salvation Army began watching the weekly food donations, setting aside hot dogs and hamburgers, they even managed to locate a couple more special BBQ style meat donations Thanks to the relationship they have with a local bakery, they had all the buns they could use
“Get the grill out”. “Get the grill out”.
Each of the five BBQs was followed by an optional speaker from The Salvation Army and a Children’s Music and Vacation Bible School Each meal included multiple picnic style salads made by faithful volunteers, potato chips, and a drink There were hamburgers and Hot dogs everyday as well as a special menu item each day including: sausages, pulled chicken, barbecued chicken, ribs and yes, pork belly
Major Carroll likes to say: “Food is our bread and butter” because it is one of The Salvation Army’s most sought-after resources by those in need. In Glens Falls where we serve Warren, Washington, and northern Saratoga counties, our food programs are comprehensive. Our food panty is open 5 days a week and serves hundreds each month. Our weekly community dinner serves between 50-75 people each week and the numbers are rising. However, in addition to these staple Salvation Army services, we also operate the Home Delivered Meals program for Glens Falls, Queensbury and Lake George, biweekly food distribution in Hudson Falls, perishable food monthly mass distribution, and Christmas assistance to families in need. From October 1st of 2023 until September of 2024, we have served approximately 127,909 meals, including 1,453 new people
We can now add 1,003 people after a week of BBQs The Glens Falls Salvation Army already has plans to include BBQs as a part of next summer’s calendar However, they plan to spread them out over the summer