Fruitful and Meaningful Partnerships
by Eloise Montemayor and Crystal Bennett
published June 2016
"The Salvation Army, an international movement,
is an evangelical part of the universal
Christian church. Its message is based on the
Bible. Its ministry is motivated by the love
of God. Its mission is to preach the gospel of
Jesus Christ and to meet human needs in His
name without discrimination."
Our mission motivates us to serve the less
fortunate through our church, social services,
shelter, soup kitchen, and store. But carrying
out this mission has also involved partnering
with other community-driven agencies and
businesses. These partnerships have given
us the opportunity to serve others in ways we
would have never imagined.
One example of a continued partnership is
that of The Salvation Army (TSA) and Catholic
Charities of the Rio Grande Valley. Since
June 11, 2014, TSA has had the privilege of
cooking and delivering to Sacred Heart's Parish
Hall over 69,000
bowls of chicken
soup for refugees
and volunteers. We
believe that no one,
regardless of race
or nationality, deserves
to go hungry.
We have also shared
our shower units,
laundry equipment and tents for day and night
lodging so that refugees can get better rest before
departing on bus to their destination.
By the grace of God, thousands of refugees
have been through the respite center at Sacred
Heart and we thank Him for allowing us to take
part in this collaborative effort. While our longterm
partnership continues with Catholic Charities,
we have also enjoyed the fruit of other
recent collaborations.
One of the biggest smiles we have recently
seen came from one of our former clients,
Blanca Treviño. Treviño suffered from partial
blindness for over a year due to a cataract in her
right eye. She did not realize the seriousness of
her condition, though, until she participated in
a health fair at The Salvation Army.
At the health fair, the McAllen Lions Club
conducted a free eye exam and sent her to optometrist
Dr. Scott Helgeson to check what was
making her eye sight fuzzy. At the appointment,
she found out she needed eye surgery to
remove her cataract. But she also knew she did
not have money to pay for it. She then went
back to TSA to find out if there were any resources
available for her to make the surgery
possible. While waiting to hear back from TSA,
she started to lose belief that everything would
be OK. She had already started earning less
money at her commission-based job since she
was not able to read necessary paperwork. But
the day TSA called Treviño with an update was
the day a burden was lifted from her shoulders.
She received news that her surgery would be
completely paid for.
The McAllen Lions Club and Dr. Helgeson contributed monetarily towards the expenses and the anesthesiologist and Dr. Peña at Peña
Eye Institute also provided their services free
of charge to Treviño. At TSA's Behind the
Red Shield luncheon during National Salvation
Army Week, Treviño was able to share with
guests her experience and her gratitude towards
TSA, the McAllen Lions Club, Dr. Hegleson
and Dr. Peña for coming together to help her
see again.
The Salvation Army continues to meet the
needs of the less fortunate with the help of community
partners mentioned above and many
others. In fact, Channel 5, H-E-B and The Salvation
Army will partner once again in July to
carry out the 5 Fans for Friends program, which
makes it possible for individuals and families
in need to stay cool during the hot summer.
We invite you to partner with us in helping others.
Please call us at 956.682.1468 for more information
about our programs and/or partnership
opportunities.
We are located at
1600 N. 23rd St.
McAllen, TX 78501
To give a monetary donation, you may send a
check payable to The Salvation Army to the
following address:
PO Box 4766
McAllen, TX 78502
Thank you for your support!