Salvation Army leaders: Community getting involved

By Cathy Ingalls
Albany Democrat-Herald

For a year now, Maj. Floyd Bacon has tried hard to “raise the profile and polish the image” of the Salvation Army in the mid-valley.

Bacon, 72, and his wife, Lola, 71, are the organization’s fourth set of officers in the last few years.

“The community is aware of that rapid turnover and the difficulties with the previous officers,” he said. “I don’t want to say much about that. We want the community to know the Army is here and we want to be of service.”

Prior to the Bacons arrival, two younger officers were transferred out of Albany primarily because of disorganization, and the last two officers resigned following charges of sexual harassment that were settled out of court.

An indicator that things are going better, Maj. Bacon said, is the number of people now serving on the organization’s local advisory board. When the Bacons arrived in November 2007, there were four board members, and now there are nine. The major would like to have about six more.

Another good sign, he said, is the number of volunteers who signed up as bell ringers this season.

So people can hear about the Army’s new resolve in the mid-valley, Bacon said he takes every opportunity to speak to service organizations, and he has joined the Takena Kiwanis club.

The Bacons have dropped predecessors’ plans to move the local headquarters. Instead they hope to remodel the present building at 345 Columbus St. S.E.

“It was more expensive to move than to remodel,” he said.

The new plan is to remodel the annex building as offices, a meeting room and storage area for the food bank. The front of the main building will become a church nursery. There also will be a teen game room, music area and computer lab, all activities that were at the organization’s DMZ house on Seventh Avenue. That building is now for sale.

Bacon said a fund drive — the goal is still to be set— will start after the first of the year.

For now volunteers and the five-member paid staff must concentrate on getting food boxes together for distribution on Dec. 20.

“We’ve had a 56 percent increase in requests between January and October,” Bacon said. “Last year, we gave out food to 750 families. This year we are gearing up for about 900.”

Anyone wishing to volunteer for the Salvation Army can call (541) 928-4774. The office, which serves Linn and Benton counties, is open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily.