Salvation Army gears up for the holidays

With the holiday season fast approaching Havre's Salvation Army Social Services office is preparing a variety of community service programs as well as adapting some programs for the future, Havre Salvation Army social services director Trina Crawford said Tuesday.

She said that although the Salvation Army thrift store is closed for remodeling and reorganization, the Salvation Army is still very active in providing social services to the community.

There will be some changes, Crawford said, with some because of the closure of Kmart on U.S. Highway 2 and others utilizing resources that have not been used before.

Since the closure of the Havre Kmart in September, Crawford said, Salvation Army has been working on finding new locations for their Giving Trees and Red Kettle Campaign.

Programs like the Giving Tree, food baskets, food and toy gift drives, Adopt-A-Family and the Red Kettle Campaign are important to the community, and it is important that the community knows that Salvation Army is still actively working on providing community service, she added.

Crawford said the Red Kettle Campaign is one of the programs in which all the funds collected go straight to the social services budget for the community.

This year, people in the community can find red kettles at Walmart, Havre North 40 Outfitters and Gary & Leo's Fresh Foods, she said. The campaign will start Nov. 16 and run through Dec. 24, she said, adding there will be no red kettles on Sundays and Thanksgiving Thursday.

Havre City Council member Ed Matter has been working with North 40 setting up the red kettle campaign.

Matter said this was a big benefit for the campaign to have the new involvement by this business.

Crawford said that this year, the kettles will be set up longer each day, running until 7 p.m. to allow for a wider range of people to volunteer.

She said Salvation Army will need at least three volunteers a day at each location, and people interested in volunteering can either sign up at http://volunteer.usawest.org or call her at 265-6411, ext. 104.

The goal this year, she said, is $28,000. She added that they will also be implementing a new method of donating so people can give to an online kettle.

Crawford said the online kettle is not a new program, but this is the first time it will be used for Havre. She added that she really wanted to push for this program so more people can have the opportunity to make donations.

She said people can reach the online red kettle on the Salvation Army website at https://havre.salvationarmy.org/.

Crawford said the Giving Tree is also important. This year, she added, there will be giving trees set up at Holiday Village Mall, Gary & Leo's and Walmart.

The trees will be decorated with tags with information about the children in need, she said, adding the program is provides gifts for children ages 1 to 12 and families from both the Rocky Boy's Indian Reservation and Havre.

She said people can buy the gifts and return them to Walmart, the mall office, Gary & Leo's or the Salvation Army office.

A food drive and a toy drive that businesses and churches can get involved in will be held also, Crawford said. This program is set up to provide food and toys for families in need, she said, and Salvation Army is working with the Havre Food Bank to provide meals for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Crawford said food baskets will be available for Havre families gain this year. Salvation Army is partnering with the Havre Food Bank to provide these baskets for Thanksgiving and Christmas, she said.

Crawford said she also wanted to see the Adopt-A-Family program grow this year to having 15 families adopted out. She added that she encourages businesses, families and churches to get involved. Entire families in the community need assistance, Crawford said, and this program provides a way for that help to get to these families.

She added that she also encourages community members to support the Gary & Leo's Hometown Hunger food drive.

People who are eligible for the Giving Tree or the food and toys programs should contact Crawford at 265-6411, ext. 102 and make an appointment. She said applicants need to bring a photo identification, Social Security cards, proof of residential address, proof of income, clothing sizes and gift ideas.