All you had to do was ask!!!

A common problem at most Salvation Army churches is unwanted donations. You see the Salvation Army operates the largest network of ‘faith based’ substance abuse programs in the country. These programs fund themselves through and help men and women with their recovery through the even larger network of Salvation Army Thrift Stores across the country. However, not every Salvation Army has a thrift store. In fact, most of the churches do not. Further more, Most Salvation Army churches operate out of buildings that are already way to small and have little or no storage.

Our building is exceptionally small and we frequently receive donations of clothing in the middle of the night. These donations are often thrown over our fence the bags are often broken and people often steal the bags before we arrive to place them in a closet until the truck comes. We have a good relationship with the local Salvation Army Adult Rehabilitation Center (The men of the program worship with us weakly and the men of the corps lead a weekly bible study at the center) so the truck comes frequently.

However…

The other day one of our neighbors came in to request food assistance after he was helped he took his back of food and began to leave the building. As he existed he noticed a large garbage bag where donations are usually dropped. He looked backed through the glass entrance to see if anyone was looking than he grabbed both bags and ran off. As I stood there our community outreach assistant (a wonderful woman who bridges the gap between social ministry and spiritual ministry) chuckled and said “he’s gonna be upset in a minute” I looked at he waiting for her to explain. The lawn people just finished up and that bag was full of grass clippings!!! We could have helped him with cloths if he had asked.