Salvos appeal for help

By Shaun Inguanzo
DANDENONG’S Salvation Army is in desperate need of volunteers to help it raise vital funds for this month’s Red Shield Appeal door knock.
The James Street-based Salvation Army Corp has been lacking volunteer door-knockers in recent years and is calling on the Greater Dandenong community to help it buck the trend this year.
Red Shield Appeal doorknock will take place on 19 and 20 May in conjunction with the Dandenong Corp’s collection points at Dandenong Plaza, Waverley Gardens and Parkmore Shopping Centre across late May.
Dandenong Corp major Stephen Ellis, 54, said the money raised each year during the Red Shield Appeal kept Salvation Army welfare programs alive.
Last year’s efforts by the Dandenong Corp raised just over $9000, he said.
But this year the Corp was aiming for at least $10,000, and he called for people to enlist as volunteer doorknockers to help reach that target.
“At this stage we only have one person collecting in the Keysborough area, and one person for Dandenong North,” he said.
“I think Dandenong could be doing better than that.”
Mr Ellis said people who relied on Salvation Army welfare were worthy recipients of welfare and drug and alcohol rehabilitation programs.
He said the funds raised would ensure people going through a difficult time were still treated as human beings – not numbers.
“They are trying to turn their lives around and we can’t deal with the influx of people because we haven’t got the initial (financial) outlay,” he said.
Mr Ellis said plenty of Dandenong families were going through tough times but their stories were “hidden behind the scenes” due to privacy laws.
“These are actual people we are talking about,” he said.
“They each have a story of their own, and while we don’t know why they have turned to drugs or alcohol, or why they sleep in the street, they are still human beings. Sometimes I think we have a tendency to be more humane towards animals than to each other.”
Mr Ellis said the Salvation Army Church’s ageing congregation was physically limited and many could no longer doorknock.
He said volunteers did not have to be Salvation Army members and would only have to collect for a couple of hours.
The Dandenong Corp has been a crucial part of the city’s welfare landscape for over 100 years.
During that time it has established a Doveton-based emergency relief office and opened a Positive Lifestyle Centre in Foster Street to help people recover from drug and alcohol addictions.
For more information or to volunteer, contact Stephen Ellis on 9706 9366.