Neepawa Salvation Army’s Continued Growth and Program Expansion

In this episode of "Coffee Chat" Amanda Naughton-Gale, current Community Director of the Neepawa Salvation Army, shared how the Neepawa Salvation Army was established in the community and how it has grown since it started. She mentioned that the Salvation Army has a long history here in the community and that some of the first Salvationists were here in 1886. In 1994, due to the dwindling congregation, the core officers and the Church part of the organization left Neepawa. However, Salvation Army stayed in the community as a Thrift Store and Family Services organization and it has continued in the community since then.

Naughton-Gale discussed the programs and services that have continued since the organization was established, how adjustments were made to address the growing and diverse needs of the community especially with the growing number of newcomers and immigrants in the area. She mentioned that the organization has grown from two to nine staff currently with two full time and seven part time personnel and a large number of volunteers who help during the Christmas hamper program.  

One of the major programs of the Neepawa Salvation Army is the Christmas hamper and they made some changes this year by handing out gift cards instead of the usual packaged goods so that the families can choose what they want since beneficiaries comes from diverse cultures and holiday traditions would be celebrated differently.

Naughton-Gale mentioned that the biggest source of fund for the Christmas hamper mostly comes from the Kettle campaign and usually offsets the cost of the Christmas hamper. “Last year, we had 140 hampers in the Neepawa area alone that we gave out and so that was 140 families who needed assistance in this community that cost us close to about $15,000 to do that and we raised just under $10,000, so you know there’s a bit of a shortfall there. We expect that we are looking at an increase this year.” said Naughton-Gale.  

When asked about the application process and how they make sure that people are not taking advantage of it, she mentioned that people are asked to fill out some forms with some information on their household income. She mentioned that they don’t just decide based on a piece paper but they also interview applicants. In some cases, it may be the potential recipients need advice on budgeting their money. There may be other factors that lead to ttheir financial stress where they need help.

Meanwhile, the monthly food bank has increased its recipient population by about 38% over the past year, she says. They have made some changes with the food bank system so that people can get the items that they want rather just receiving packed goods. There are different kinds of goods available in the food bank like canned proteins & fish, peanut butter, personal items like soap, toilet paper and others. She said there are also some fresh produce that comes from the Food Rescue program which are donated by the grocery stores in town.

Lastly, a new program that they recently launched is the Community Kitchen. She said that the idea behind the Community or Collective Kitchen is people coming together to cook for everybody in the group and to take home for their family. So far, they have two groups cooking together on Mondays and Tuesdays and they will be opening some more spots for next year. The program is open to anybody including those from diverse groups and cultures.