The Austin Salvation Army helped many people this holiday season, thanks to the contributions from Austin-area residents.

Friday, January 05, 2001

The Austin Salvation Army helped many people this holiday season, thanks to the contributions from Austin-area residents.

Though Salvation Army workers expected to give away 326 baskets, in actuality they gave away 342 baskets. Twenty-five volunteers worked for 153 hours on the basket distribution efforts, serving 1,243 people.

Pat Wright, the case worker who covers the food shelf and social services, said that they gave toys to 580 children before Christmas through the Toys for Tots program. She said that more families than single people were served this year, as has been the tradition.

Their holiday dinner served 125, which included 50 at the Twin Towers, 60 on-site and 15 delivered to homes in the area. Forty-five volunteers worked on preparing, serving and cleaning up after the dinner, for a total of 90 hours.

Though donations from the red kettle program have not been total, Wright said that 145 volunteers worked 1,616 hours on the program, with one bell ringer putting in 140 hours.

The Angel Tree program, in which people could fill stockings hung on a tree with merchandise, used 40 volunteers for 247 hours.

Salvation Army volunteers and workers visited seven rest homes in the area, handing out 1,437 gifts and serving 591 people.

"The holidays were extremely successful because of the people in the community and their commitment to us," said Wright.

Wright stresses that The Salvation Army collects for the needy all year long. Individual donors tend to give year-round, while the bulk of business giving occurs around yearly holidays.

The Salvation Army’s next big drive will be the Minnesota Food Drive in March.