Duane Hicks
The local Salvation Army will see new individuals in charge later this year as Capts. Angel and Marlene Sandoval are transferring to Ariano Irpino, Italy in two months.
“We received today our farewell orders,” Capt. Angel Sandoval said during a volunteer appreciation dinner Friday night at Knox United Church here.
“It’s good because you are going to have new officers for the Salvation Army here and we hope this couple is going to be more and more into the work,” he added.
“We are too old now.
“This is a big thing for the Salvation Army, this is a big thing for our kids,” Capt. Sandoval conceded. “But unfortunately we have to leave Fort Frances.
“You are going to be in our hearts, for sure,” he stressed.
“We enjoyed the work here. One of the best places I’ve worked for the Salvation Army is in Fort Frances.”
The Sandovals came to Fort Frances with their two children, Oneyda and David, in August, 2003.
Prior to that, they had been stationed in Hamilton, Ont. for two years. They originally hailed from El Salvador.
Capt. Sandoval admitted that, at first, he didn’t want to relocate to Fort Frances from Hamilton.
“To be honest with you, I didn’t want to come here,” he remarked.
“When [the Salvation Army] called me, they said, ‘You are applying to go to Santa Ana, Calif.,’ and I said, ‘Who would want to go down there? Not me or my family. I want to be in Canada,’” he recalled.
The Salvation Army then asked him to move to Fort Frances, which Capt. Sandoval said he could not find on the map.
“I came here and I said to my wife, ‘I don’t like it here,’” he admitted. “But the Lord always sends us to a place where He needs us, and this is one of the conditions we as Salvation Army officers have.
“We came here, we worked for the community, and we worked hard,” Capt. Sandoval noted.
“Some people said we were outsiders and it’s true. We come from El Salvador in Central America—a place that’s full of sunshine every day, no snow, no ice, beautiful place.
“We tried to do our best here and we hope that you will continue working with the new officers in the same way you worked with us,” he added.
“Remember, there’s always a need. But behind the need, there is people who volunteer for those who need it.”
Capt. Sandoval said whenever they called on volunteers for support, they have been there.
“We saw that with the Christmas campaign, we saw that with the Red Shield Appeal, we saw that through the different appeals that I was putting together,” he remarked.
“And I feel so grateful to be here.
“I really, really enjoyed my time in this community,” he stressed. “I want to spend more time here, but the time is over and we have to leave.”
Capt. Sandoval said he wants the public to continue supporting the new Salvation Army officers when they come here.
He noted the Salvation Army has been in Fort Frances since 1914—and hopes it will keep going strong here for at least another 98 years.
Volunteers honoured
Friday night’s volunteer appreciation dinner also was an opportunity for the Salvation Army to thank the community volunteers who helped with the 2011 Christmas campaign.
Capt. Marlene Sandoval said hundreds of district families were able to enjoy the holidays because of those volunteers’ efforts.
“Thank you so much for your contribution; for all the help you gave us through the Christmas campaign,” she remarked.
Stacy Gosman, family services co-ordinator for the local Salvation Army, gave a presentation on the 2011 Christmas campaign, “Beyond Personal Compassion and Hope,” noting it raised $18,477.74.
A total of 46 families were “adopted” for the Christmas hamper program by individuals and businesses (meaning they put together a hamper for a family) while 161 were sponsored (meaning individuals and businesses contributed money towards hampers).
As well, several churches and sports teams collected food and toys to put into the Christmas hampers.
This resulted in the Salvation Army being able to give 207 Christmas hampers out to district families in need, helping a total of 248 adults, 28 teens, and 150 children.
Gosman also thanked the many businesses that let the Salvation Army set up their kettles during the Christmas season, as well as the organizations, businesses, churches, and clubs that all volunteered to ring the bells.
“Thank you so much for your support. I know many of you help year after year after year,” she noted.
“I always know I can depend on you, call you up and sign you up to do kettles or do a little work here and there,” Gosman added.
“I am so thankful, and we all are at the Salvation Army.
“Your efforts make it a lot easier on us. Without your help, those 150 kids wouldn’t have woken up with a smile on their faces,” she stressed.
“Everything that you do is appreciated by them and by us. We never take you guys for granted and we’re very thankful.”
The Sandovals presented pins to recognize special volunteers at Friday’s dinner, whether they helped with the Christmas campaign or year-round.
Those honoured this year included Jill Pernsky, Audrey Thompson, and Angie Fraser, along with International Falls residents Curt Summer and Sharon Giavarini.
Giavarini, whose family originally hails from the east end of London, England, said helping the Salvation Army now is her way of saying thank you for the help they gave her family years ago.
“There was one lady [from the Salvation Army], in particular, that they never met that sent letters to my grandmother when my mother was a tiny baby,” recalled Giavarini.
“And she sent wool and she sent clothing she had made and she sent, and this was a really big deal in those days, she sent a half crown, which was enough money to buy food for everybody at that particular time.
“Things were that desperate.”
“When my mum got to be about eight years old, the donations and things kind of stopped,” Giavarini added. “They never knew what happened, whether that was the end of it.
“But the impression that woman left with my mother was wonderful and she told us, her children, stories of how important it was and how special it was to receive that blessing.”
Giavarini said she was talking to her sister in England on Friday afternoon, and she finally had recently seen one of the letters the woman from the Salvation Army—Mrs. Steadman—had written.
“It’s thanks to her that I am here because I am trying to say thank you to her for all the things that she did for us,” Giavarini said.
“I am sure you have all got your wonderful stories. That’s mine.”
Deputy mayor Sharon Tibbs, on hand for Friday’s dinner, also shared a few words about the importance of volunteerism.
Quoting a past Citizen of the Year, Dr. Robert Lidkea, she noted, “Volunteerism is the rent we pay for living in a good community”—a motto council saw fit to have put on a plaque which now is posted at the Memorial Sports Centre.
Coun. Tibbs added there’s so many things volunteers do that wouldn’t get done if they didn’t take the time.
When it comes to getting community projects done, it’s not all about money, and that people’s willingness to offer their time and a helping hand can be just as important, she noted.
