Paul Szmal: FLX Morning continues, it is 8.40, clouds and sun across the region, it's 31. Soon you'll be hearing the bells ringing, that means the Salvation Army kettle campaign will be underway. Here to talk about that and many other things is Captain Manuel Sulca from the Salvation Army of Geneva. Manuel, good morning, how are you sir?
Manuel Sulca: Good morning Paul, I'm good, thank you. And I want to get to the kettle campaign in a little bit, but I thought that we would start by talking about some of the things that the Salvation Army does, because people may not be 100% familiar with it, starting with some of the social services programs that you offer your respective area communities.
Paul Szmal: Yes, thank you again for the opportunity. The Salvation Army in Geneva is located in 41 North Street in Geneva and we have different programs for the community. We support our community and we also support the Ontario and Yates County. We have our food pantry that works Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. We also have our rent and utility assistance, so we work with different other partnership programs and clients and our community can come when they need help and we are able to help them or also refer them to another organization. Also for the community, we offer youth programs, which is our music and arts program. They happen every Wednesday, 5 to 7, 15 at night and all the kids are welcome to come. We also have a music program for free. We provide transportation and we also provide dinner to all our kids.
Manuel Sulca: I have to think that food pantry is going to get taxed quite a bit here in terms of usage if the government shutdown continues with the possibility that people may not be receiving SNAP benefits and I also imagine that you thrive on donations to that food pantry as well to keep it going.
Paul Szmal: That's correct. There's many organizations always trying to help us. We have the American Legion very soon doing a food drive for us. They're going to do this food drive on Saturday the 15th from 10 in the morning to noon. So if you are one of the organizations and you want to help because we know like next week we're going to find out what is going to happen with the SNAP program and so far we have a lot of clients coming to our facility looking for food, hot meals, so we definitely can receive your help.
Manuel Sulca: Now those hot meals, are those served on particular days of the week or are those just available on a regular basis?
Paul Szmal: So the hot meals are available only on Wednesdays and when we have some of those available.
Manuel Sulca: Ah, okay. We're talking with Manuel Sulca from The Salvation Army here in Geneva about some of the things that The Salvation Army does. One of the things that The Salvation Army provides that people may not be aware of, Manuel, is a church ministry service.
Paul Szmal: Yes, that's correct. A lot of people think that we are just a thrift store. We have also a thrift store across Walmart, but we also are a church, you know. So during the week we have different services for everybody. Everybody is welcome to our facility, to our church. So on Sunday we have a 10 in the morning Sunday school for all ages. You can bring your kids. It's also in different languages. So we have Sunday school in Spanish and English and for all kids, all ages, they can come. And at 11.15 we have our main service every Sunday. And during the week we have men's club, women's ministry on Wednesday, prayer meeting, Bible study on Thursday at 6.30 p.m. So we have different programs.
Manuel Sulca: Now let's talk about the one thing that everybody is aware of at the holiday season. If you're walking into, say, the Walmart in Geneva, Canandaigua, many other locations, you are going to find the Salvation Army Kettles with the volunteer bell ringers standing by accepting donations. Is this one of the major fundraisers for the year for the Salvation Army?
Paul Szmal: That's correct, yes. Our Kettle Christmas Campaign is our main and the biggest fundraising for the Salvation Army. So we start our campaign on November 15th. So you're going to see our Kettle volunteers ringing the bell in different locations from November 15th to December the 24th. So you asked before about how we can receive some help for the community. And this is the right time, you know, to support all our programs that we have for free to the community, especially during these days. And this is the Kettle Campaign. So we're going to be located at Walmart and 5th and 20th. We're going to be at Walmart in Newark, Walmart in Waterloo, and different businesses in the area as well. You will see our bucket there, but also you will find some counter kettles for some businesses where you can register so you can just donate there.
Manuel Sulca: Yeah, there's a bunch of different ways that you can find a kettle somewhere to drop a dollar or two dollars, whatever you have, spare change. Every little bit helps for the Kettle Campaign every year. And many of the bell ringers, if not a majority of them, are volunteers, but that's not the only volunteer opportunities that exist within the Salvation Army organization.
Paul Szmal: That's correct. Yes. If you want to volunteer financially, it can also be, you know, with your time and you can come to our facility. We have different opportunities for volunteers. We have our music and arts program. We have our food pantry, you know, if you want to contribute with your community and give back, you can just come to our facility. All the information you can find it on Facebook. Just go and type the Salvation Army of Geneva and you will find all our information there.
Manuel Sulca: One of the other good things that you do during the holiday season, Manuel, is a Christmas food basket and toy distribution.
Paul Szmal: That's correct. Another big event that we have in the Salvation Army of Geneva, as I mentioned before, we serve Ontario County and Yates County. So usually we serve a large number of families during Christmas. Last year we helped 350 families with a Christmas food basket and also with toy distribution. So this is going to happen on December the 10th and the 11th is going to be our Christmas food basket distribution. And also on December 17 and December 18, we will be doing our toy distribution. How people can sign up for this, just go to our Facebook page and you can fill the application there. There's a link and you need to upload for every kid your birth certificate and an ID for all the adults. And this is also for free and we're trying to help as much as we can. They will receive a large box full of food and meat, chicken for this Christmas for every family to have a nice dinner and the same for the kids, toys for them, some clothing. And this program is called Angel Tree. So the deadline for the applications is November 7. So just go to our Facebook page and if there's somebody who wants to help because this is a large event, just contact me, try to look for me on Facebook or come to our facility and we will need a lot of help to the distribution.
Manuel Sulca: I want to go back to the food pantry just for a second, Manuel. Are there any particular food items that you're in need of right now or is it just the usual general need of the non-perishables and produce, fruits, vegetables, things of that nature?
Paul Szmal: In our food pantry, I would say probably our major need will be all non-perishable food, but especially dairy, produce. We are also looking for cereal. There's a lot of family coming and looking for that. But any type of food is welcome.
Manuel Sulca: All right. And again, you can check the Salvation Army of Geneva Facebook page to find more information, especially if you'd like to volunteer for the Kettle Campaign or some of the other activities that the Salvation Army offers. Manuel, thank you for filling us in this morning. We appreciate it and best of luck with the Kettle Campaign this year, sir.
Paul Szmal: Thank you so much, Paul. God bless you all.
Manuel Sulca: It is 8.49 on FLX Morning.
