“Hope roars” as an international organization with a location here in Centralia officially celebrates 135 years of service to the community.
When the group began serving the area, Centralia’s founder, George Washington, was still a pillar in the community.
Captains Gin and Steven Pack welcomed supporters to The Salvation Army Centralia Corps’ annual fundraising dinner Thursday evening at the organization's building across the train tracks from downtown Centralia.
The evening provided a bit of fun along with many examples of how The Salvation Army has served its community in the last year. It also gave those in the room a chance to donate or pledge financial support.
Before getting started, attendees milled around the room chatting with others and bidding on items in a small silent auction before being welcomed to help themselves to dinner and take a seat.
Gin Pack kicked off the event by giving the community some numbers measuring the group's impact. According to Pack, the Centralia Salvation Army served 6,974 households by providing a range of services, including handing out 32,593 boxes of food.
Inside the Salvation Army building, the group provided more than 4,000 hot meals last year. Just across the parking lot, the group also provided 2,723 showers.
“Hope is not an idea this year, and it's not going to end here,” Gin Pack said. “It's an action. It's a movement. It's a lifeline. It is Lewis County, and together, we hope that hope shines through all year.”
During the event, Gin and Steven Pack asked two current Salvation Army employees to share their own stories of how The Salvation Army helped them. Carrie Olsen and Tacy Pendleton both took to the podium during the event to share their experiences with The Salvation Army.
For Pendleton, The Salvation Army was a part of her life from an early age, with her mother having been involved with the Centralia nonprofit since she was young. The Salvation Army has helped her support her family at different times for different reasons, starting by helping her and her husband provide for their first child back in the early 90s.
Olsen said The Salvation Army helped her in the hardest time in her life as she struggled with addiction and finding stability. Olsen shared the small details of The Salvation Army's service that helped her regain a sense of self worth during a dark time. She shared how the shelter and food bank’s willingness to take in her dogs helped her feel welcome when she needed the facilities the most and how daily showers gave her a renewed sense of pride.
“One of the ways that they made a real difference for me was by allowing animals in their building,” Olsen said. “That may seem like a small thing, but it meant the world to me. My dogs were, and still are, a huge part of my life, and knowing I could bring them with the sense of comfort, safety and acceptance I hadn't felt in years.”
Toward the end of the event, the captains also welcomed the Centralia Corps’ advisory board chair Dr. Joseph Dolezal to speak. He stressed the importance of the community’s support of The Salvation Army and urged supporters to pledge their dollars, their time and their spare food to the local Salvation Army.
Dolezal painted Centralia as a community that has always been dedicated to helping those who live in the area, or even those just passing through, to survive and thrive.
“Community is the thing that makes this go,” Dolezal said. “We have to support this to make this happen. 135 years of Salvation Army in Centralia … This is something that our community has always done. The Salvation Army came in and just kind of helped take that and carry along.”
While the Thursday night event had its moments of seriousness, it was also an evening of fun and smiles as attendees shared a dinner together and participated in a dessert dash. Tables were released to grab one of more than 10 desserts, with tables who donated or pledged the most being given a 10-second head start to claim a sweet treat.
Learn more about The Salvation Army of Lewis County at https://centralia.salvationarmy.org.
