Good to Know Salvation Army

Paul Reiser and Bill Lunn talk with Julie Searing-Allen about how The Salvation Army, its mission, and how it is helping the community this holiday season.

What is KTBS: Good to Know Shreveport-Bossier?

KTBS Podcasting and the Committee of 100 present Good to Know Shreveport-Bossier, a podcast series showcasing the good things happening in our area. We’ll go in-depth about economic development, community growth and other topics about initiatives that are having a positive impact in our community. We’ll have new episodes every other Wednesday. You can find the KTBS Good to Know podcast wherever you listen to podcasting. Or go to KTBS.com or KTBS Now on your streaming device to see the full interview.

Welcome to the Good to Know podcast.

Podcast showcasing the good things
happening in our community.

I'm Bill Allen and this is my co-host,
Paul Reiser over here.

He's a local businessman
and member of the Committee of 100.

Each podcast
will focus on topics and initiatives

that have a positive impact
on our community.

We talk a lot on the news here
about some of the bad things

that happened, so it's nice to be able
to turn that around and talk about

some of the more positive things
happening around the Shreveport

Bossier area with new episodes available
every other Wednesday, by the way.

And you can find good to know
wherever you listen to podcasts.

Paul Well, Bill, man,
thank you so much for stepping in

for the ever active and sometimes absent

Jeff Bob for who's out today.

But we're.

Thank you so much for stopping by.
Good to see you.

You're going to bring a level
of professionalism.

I'm going to have to be on my toes.
I'm going to I'm going to try it.

And I know you guys always do
a terrific job together.

So it's fun to be able to sit or thank you
for some good things for a change.

Well, something good.

You know, we're coming up on the holiday
season,

Christmas and Thanksgiving coming up.

And I always see these folks ringing
the bell trying to get me to put money

in these buckets.

And I wonder who is the Salvation Army?

What branch of the military is this?

What goes on with the money
in those buckets

and what do they do the rest of the year?

Well, it turns out there's
a lot going on all during the year.

And we're going to answer
all those questions and more

because today we have the director

of development for the Northwest
Louisiana Salvation Army, Ms..

Julie Allen.

Thank you for having me.

So it's great to be here.

Oh, thank you. Is it is it Captain Julie?

General Julie? Nope, it's just Julie.

Well.

Oh, but yes, for northwest Louisiana,

our core officers are the majors, Luna
and Pierre Smith.

So we're guided by them.

Okay,
so there's actual officers in this army?

Yes, sir.

They depending upon what level of rank
you can say,

it depends on their level of service.

They've actually been with the Salvation
Army for over 24 years.

They actually are from Haiti.

Originally came to the US.

They have a fantastic story.

They're brilliant people.

We love having them. Amazing.
That's great.

Well, tell me, like I say,

I always wondered
what is the Salvation Army?

I mean, is is it an army?

Is it is it salvation?

What is it?

Because I see the red signs
and I wonder, is it the actual army?

Can you describe it to us

a little bit in a sense, it
and some days it feels like an army.

But because we have a huge mission
in order to help those that need it,

we want to make sure anybody
who comes to our doors

has a hot meal, has a hand to

hold them through
whatever crisis they may be going through.

It's not a branch of the military.

It actually started in 1865
on the east end of London.

A gentleman by the name of William Booth

came out and he saw those who were tired,
who were hungry, who were dirty,

who needed a sense of salvation
and he reached out

and they started
kind of tent pop up areas.

They had marching bands
that would come through

to let people know,
Hey, come see us. We'll give you hot food.

We can find a place for you to shower and
maybe listen to a little bit of preaching

because it is a church based organization.

We want to make sure that people feel
the love of God, but also know that

no matter what your beliefs are,
we are not going to discriminate.

There are so many nonprofits out there.

They're all trying to get,
you know, everyone's dollars and so forth.

And I think people, you know,
they only have so much money

that they can just give away their feed
and their kids are feeding their families.

They've got sports.

You know, sports
equipment is through the roof.

There
are a lot of expenses to living life.

So I think they want to know exact alley,
where their money goes to.

And obviously at the holiday season,
as you mentioned, Paul,

you see the folks out there
sometimes in the very cold weather

asking for your donation.

And so where exactly does that money go?

What does that do in our community?

So I can start off by saying $0.86
of every single dollar that's donated

goes back into this community
helping those who need it,

whether it's through our food
assistance programs,

whether it's through our shelter,
because we have our miracle center of hope

shelter that serves men, women, families
with children and veterans,

whether it goes through our Boys and Girls
Club doors, helping those kids

find a safe place
that they can be in the afternoon

so they don't have to worry about
the shootings that are going around them.

They don't have to worry about going home
and even knowing whether or not they're

going to get a hot meal.

But we,

as the army for northwest
Louisiana, serve eight parishes.

So we have outside help that goes to
Sabine, that goes to Red River,

especially right now,
since we're coming up on Christmas,

we're about to be gearing
into our Angel Tree program,

which is for kids,
literally birth to age 12.

We actually have some expectant moms
that are due in January and February

of next year that we're trying
to make sure that those kids

that are coming into this world
have something that's

going to be for them

alongside

anything that's donated, we track it

so we know if your donation of $25 came
in, we can basically tell you

where it's going to go and how it's going
to be of service to those in need.

You you raise a great point.

And that is and you said it right away,
$0.86 on the dollar goes

directly to help people.

And I think a lot of people
don't realize that

when you make donations to nonprofits,
there are administrative costs.

There are all kinds of other expenses.

I won't name names,
but there was one very well-known

military nonprofit
that was down to $0.10 on the dollar,

actually helping those who
it was trying to serve.

And they've turned that around now.

But but but $0.86,

when you go through that, that's a thing
you can examine with charities.

$0.86, of course, is considered
very good, exceptionally efficient to me.

And I never could
run a hamburger stand with

that kind of efficiency.

But so so then so I guess I understand
this is an international organization,

but you have regional offices
and you're serving like

the most needy members
of our of our communities. Yes.

So these homeless people
are these underemployed

or what are the people
and how do they find you?

It's homeless, underemployed.

It's those who even might feel like
they're employed at a great level.

But due to the high rising cost of food

or the electric bills that are now
coming out or anything of that nature,

they are feeling
the tightening of that felt.

And so they come to us,
we're over on 200 stoner.

We're right next to a cemetery.

It might seem crazy, a little bit scary,
but that's home for us.

And no matter the need that comes in,
whether we can serve it,

whether we can find our community partners
to help them,

we want to make sure that those people
are getting the help that they need.

So each donor in Shreveport,
I have an office in Shreveport now.

It's not any stoner.

It's I see. I've seen the area, though.

Why did you chose I mean, it's not like
the most affluent area.

And in Shreveport. Wow.

It's not that far from here.

It's right down the street From here,
it's 5 minutes from here.

Everything is pretty close,
actually, in downtown Shreveport.

Why did you choose that location
so the locations

are chosen specifically in the areas
that need us most.

Those who don't have the facilities
to be able to come to us,

they can literally walk to our doors
downtown Shreveport,

where we unfortunately see a lot
of our homeless population on the side.

They're not maybe a 15, 20 minute
walk to our doors.

And our goal is to make sure that

the needy and those who

want specific help truly need the help,
because

unfortunately, you hear it where well,
how do they qualify?

We go through step by step processes
based on the grants that we see

on the dollars that we receive
sometimes because

we're so restricted funds for nonprofit.

So they tell us where
we need to spend that money.

Those funds do help your neighbor
next door.

They do help those who are hungry

and don't know whether or not they need
to pay the light bill or feed their kids.

They go

to the families who

want a better life,

not only for themselves,
but for their children.

Sorry,

I just thinking of the stories
and I've been with the Army

now for a little bit.

Can you share one of those stories?

I can.

Let me control my emotions
for just a half a second.

Speaking actually, when

I first came in, COVID was actually
when I came through.

I joined the team in 2020 of June.

Sure.

We had a family

who they were waiting for our room
to open up.

And Carlo's Haven,
which is a section of our shelter

dedicated to women and their children.

Once we had a room open
and they came through,

we found a found out

that they were literally sleeping
in the cemetery that was right next to us

because it's the safest spot for them
because no one would mess with them.

Oh, broke our hearts, of course.

But it's a grandmother
and her three grandbabies

and which she had taken custody
from her daughter because her daughter

and fortunately had fallen into
and drugs and other issues. And

these sweet babies when they came
in, literally

only had the clothes on their back.

And we were able to help her
find great employment.

We were able to make sure that the girls
were going to succeed in school,

of course, find them amongst new clothes,

and they got adopted by Angel Tree
and they got some really great gifts

that year.

I think the little littlest one
was about three.

And Sue squealed with delight
because we were able

to kind of be a part of a Christmas party
with them.

But and then following up with them

because through our Karlos Haven,
we had a program called Pathway of Hope,

which follows these families
at least a year afterwards, if not longer.

If they choose. And that's
another thing I want to ask, because

like you started out saying, well,

sometimes people want to know
where exactly is this money going?

And Bill mentioned sometimes
these nonprofits can get out of hand

where they're not getting all the money,
isn't getting where it needs to go.

But how can you be efficient to help folks
get back on their feet?

Because that's, I think, is the thing.

A lot of people
we don't want to just keep them in this

in this system of poverty that they're in.

But folks are in trouble.

Once you get start going down, that
path, it's hard to get turned back around.

So what is it?

Some things that you do to help
people get back in mainstream.

So we kind of referenced that parable

when Jesus said,
Are you going to feed a man a meal?

Are you going to teach him how to fish?

We are on the philosophy of
let's teach you how to fish.

So we

have a
gentleman who enters into our shelter

and he needs to find employment.

He needs to get back on his feet.

We work with him and other local agencies
to get all the documentation

that he needs for employment.

We work to find out
what his trade skills are so that we

we are finding things that he is good at.

Maybe if he needs some counseling
or mental health help,

we locate other organizations
that can help us build that bridge.

We also bring in other organized nations
that help teach final financial literacy

classes, that help teach the building
blocks of basic banking.

So that way he knows how to save,
He knows how to budget.

He knows how to set a good foundation.

And when he's ready,

participants can stay
with us up to six months, if not longer.

If we do need an extension
for specific cases,

he has a foundation, so when he leaves us,

he's able to feel secure in how he's going
and he can feel like a productive

and constructive citizen
for Shreveport, La, for our area.

You brought up the
the faith component up there,

and I know you briefly touched on it
earlier, but,

you know,
I've lived all around the country

and I don't think I've seen more faith
based community

than than in Shreveport and really
the rest of the architects here.

I mean, that is something that matters
to a lot of people.

And it probably matters when when they
they give away their dollars.

They want many people, not everyone,
but many people want to make sure

they're giving their money
to a faith based organization.

So talk a little bit about that.
Like what?

What is the faith component
and what kind of faith message are

are the people in the program

getting So our core
officers are actually our pastors.

They go through seminary
and they get ordained.

We actually have church services.

If anybody wants to join us,
we we'd love to have you.

It is on a donor.

It's on about 10 a.m.

on Sundays.

But we handle vital.

I would do Bible studies,
we do spiritual counseling.

And when I say we,
I basically mean our core officers.

Although we do have a couple
a couple of our fellow employees

that are very much in faith with God
and do reach out if they're not available.

But we also don't try and push it on those
who come in because some people

are hesitant for those when they need
or some people that's what they need.

But the organization itself is driven

by what God wants us to do,
and that's to help our fellow man.

And we want to make sure

that whenever we do something,

we're doing it
for how God wants us to do it.

Because for a faith and

faith based organization,
we aren't the one at the helm.

He is? Mm hmm.

Wonderful.

Well, it sounds like

you guys have some good plans
for the money going in the buckets.

Yes, I got to go back to the buckets.

What do you how you call them
kettles or. Yes, they're called.

So, you know, I see these people out there
jingle in the bell.

Are they are they paid?

Are they are they volunteers?

They're both okay.

We prefer volunteers, of course.

But we also know

that seasonal employment is great
for a lot of people and architects.

And they can

right now we're signing up bell ringers
for those who want either position,

they can actually go to registered
or income in order to volunteer with us.

You have the ring dot com domain name
and registered a ring dot com.

Yes, sir.

And the other thing too, is if they don't
want to get out in those cold elements

because unfortunate the almanacs
predicting that we're going to

there's other options they can go to in a

in a empty stocking board
and they can fundraise virtually across

their Facebook pages, across their emails,
whatever they'd like to do.

But if a person wants to get out there
and get cold, it could double down,

could get dropped down
into the fifties. Yes.

Have to put in heavy jacket. Yeah.

Maybe some mittens for me.

Well, and so you have employees
versus volunteers.

Who raises the most money?
Is there a difference?

I have to say our volunteers
win hands down.

Really?

I want to say,
if you look at the numbers, volunteers

bring in 3 to 5 times more than a paid
volunteer are paid bell ringer.

And that's why they are important,
because they have the love

of wanting to do good.

They have the joy of ringing that bell.

I mean,
and of course, you can have fun with it

dressed in your Christmas sweater,
play some Christmas music.

I mean, all the stranger
and the guys singing and it looks at me

and pointed, Oh my God, I'm going to say
no to that as opposed to person.

A couple of questions related to that.

One, people like me,
I hardly ever carry cash.

So certainly you guys have probably tried
to work around or accommodate that.

We have you'll see on the shuttle stands,
there is Google Pay, there's Apple Pay.

There's also going to be a QR code
that you can scan to donate.

And no, no excuse.

No, I have cash on me

that if you run into a grocery store,
I mean, you can do cash back.

I mean, so but the thing is,
the most important reason

why you drop money into that bucket,
even if it's $0.05, is it does help.

I mean, you're $4.

That's you might get your fancy
cup of coffee from helps do a hot meal

for a family or helps to a hot meal
for an individual in our shelter.

$25 will feed your
neighbor in need for a week.

175 actually will

allow someone to be in our shelter
for two weeks for free.

And so it helps. Absolutely.

And I know in having lived
around the country that there are

these magical stories of somebody
who'll drop like a gold coin in

or is there anything like that
that happens here that you can relate

to us, any special donor
or donations that you get traditionally?

Oh, my first cattle season,
we were going through kettles

and there was a check
that someone had dropped in for $10,000.

And we have a thing when we're counting
cash or count the money,

that if there's $100 bill, we we start
singing our favorite Christmas song.

Well, we sing for a very long time.

And that type of, like you
said, magical golden coin just

really instills

in us the mission re-instill in us,

why we do what we do,
why it's important to continue service.

And while we're talking about these,
the kettles,

the other thing that I think is a news
person, I've covered over the years is

sometimes it's getting harder
for you guys to find a place.

Some businesses have said,

we're not going to do the kettles out
front this year

and you guys have to kind of backtrack
or figure out a new plan.

Has that been an issue
that's challenged you?

Not really.

I do have to say we have some great
national partners who work with us.

You'll see us slowly
coming into the community

based on
when they want us in front of their doors.

And we are grateful
for every minute that we're out there

with those partnerships, we can grow.

We're able to meet those individuals
who are working

those stores of general managers
who are at those stores,

and they understand the impact of why
what we're doing

in front of those kettles, businesses
by the

we're looking at,

we actually can also show them
the impact of their store

because we keep track of each location
and how well each location does.

And we can say out of all the Wal-Marts,

this one right here is the the best.

It's it's the one that gave us the
the highest amount of donations.

And same thing
with other businesses in the area.

Even if you have a small mom and pop shop,
we have tiny tabletop kettles.

We will highly give you and less and less
you have on your counters

throughout the season.

And then we can tell you
the impact that it had coming into our

facilities.

My business hat keeps coming out.

I'm thinking, can we bonus these folks?

Like if this should be a $1,000 bucket,
you get 50% of everything over $1,000

today things.

Have you ever thought of that or. Yes.

I mean, I know it's I don't know.

I just go straight to
how do we increase this productivity?

You're such a business man.

We can't help it. Hey, I love it.

That does good. It is.

It does good to do good.

You know, bonus thing is, is a great way.

I mean, we have companies
who actually sponsor cattle themselves

who say, okay, I'm
going to put $1,000 in the bucket

and anything past a thousand
I can match by, say, 20%.

We've had a couple individuals
who have done that

for us, and it's great.

It's a great tax return for the business.

It's also great for the people,
the community to see that, hey,

that individual is giving back.

That individual
wants to make our community better.

And they're not just saying it,
they're putting their actions into place.

I never want to talk about
the other things that you are

do because you do other cool things.

But just one last thing
about about the kettle,

you know, just a few Just I would imagine
every time you put even just a dollar

in the kettle, it just inspires
the packaging the bell a little louder.

It kind of inspires that person
that's doing that good work,

just doing it right now,
and it's all adds up.

Even every little dollar when you go buy.

Have you
have you ever when the bell? I have.

I've rang the bell.

We actually do an employee challenge
I was over at the mint and brochures

and there was actually this little bitty
four year old girl who coming up hands

full of change to come
and put it into the bucket and then just

it touches you in a way that you see.

Okay, good.

We have someone growing up this going
to know the foundation of giving

the foundation of giving back.

Yeah.

And little kids just touch your heart.

Yeah. Oh,

it's.

That's just powerful.

I gave a bike away to a kid once

over in Bosnia, and he came
and he went to his house.

He came back and he gave me a penny,

and I was like,

I am never getting rid of this penny,
because like you said, it meant so much

and it meant a lot to him to to
to tell me that.

So that that's that's special.

It is. It's very special.

This so emotionally obviously
touching your heart and not just a job.

So how did you

how did you come to this and what is it
like to work at this organization?

It was one of those God closes
the door, opens a window moments

in 2020, I got laid off
from where I was working originally,

and through the power of him work

in different ways, I was able to actually
talk to a member that was on the board.

I got interviewed by the member
on the board first and then he said,

Hey, this is this is someone who
I think you should take a look at.

And then I was able at the time
we had a different set of officers.

They were captains, and I was able
to speak with him in great detail

as to my service background

and why I thought I was going to be
of course, good for the position.

But what
was really funny is my last interview

when I was meeting with my our rep at HQ,
I just gotten married that weekend.

So 2020 was a huge year for me.

It was a big year where we were all

covered.

Certainly changed the way
that we do a lot of things.

And while we're on, how did it,
you know, it changed our business.

We didn't used to see Zoom
interviews on right now where

I just walk past one of our reporters
doing a Zoom interview.

And it's not just that. It's a lot.

We have remote producers now.

We have a lot of things change
because of COVID.

So what changed for the Salvation Army
as a result of COVID?

I mean, part of that was that year
it was you couldn't have that face to face

and it impacted you guys then.
But what's changed now?

I can tell you we never closed our doors.

Yeah, that is one thing.

If we had individuals coming in

and of course we were wearing our masks
and doing PPE protection,

but we never closed our doors

because we knew that that virus
was going to cause a greater need.

And we saw a spike
in those coming to us for assistance,

whether it was utility assistance,
rental assistance, food insecurity.

And right now
we're in the middle of another big spike.

We're seeing about a 20% increase
for those same needs.

We have Americans all around

the United States that are suffering,
that are living paycheck to paycheck.

And with gas prices increasing,
with grocery prices increasing,

they're wondering,
how am I going to make it?

And we just want to help where we can.

Recently, we just did a food drive
because our pantry got very low.

And I have to say thank you
to those who donated

because we now have about 9000
grocery items that are on our shelves

now that we're able to
sustain these families with.

How do people find out about you?

Who is it that's coming to your facility?

Every week or every day?

They find out through multiple
different ways.

They have other community partners
in the area who say, okay,

this is the organization
you need to go to for ABC, X, Y, Z.

They it's word of mouth

between those
who are homeless and transient.

And then people know
the name of the Salvation Army.

I mean, we've been around since 1865.

It's hard not to know an organization
that's been around for that long

and to even know the mission. And I know

you're leading into other things
that we do throughout the year.

I mean, we were doing fan
drive for seniors.

We'd have stolen food boxes through
literally box fans for in the summertime.

Yeah. Yes.

And we were able to partner
with Music Mountain

and give them a case of water too,
which is great.

Which is your neighbor over there.
It is. They are.

They're fantastic neighbors
and so is Coca-Cola.

But but the

the other thing is, is
people know us from our history.

I mean, in World War One,
we had donut lassies who were out there

providing some kind of fun

give to those soldiers.

I mean, they were taking shells or coffee
cans to create

centers in the middle of the donut.

So that way

they could put it on top of their bayonets
or on their finger

because of everything
that they were carrying.

I mean, and
and we actually have some video

of when they were actually
on the front lines with those shoulders

where soldiers where they picked up
a bayonet of themselves.

I mean, and these are women
I mean, 18 to 24 years old.

But even now, as I interrupted,
as you were going through this list

you have of the thousands of meals
you give out every year, every week

you give out meals home for homeless
people.

Give give me the list real quick so I can.

Oh, so in terms of food,

we do monthly food boxes for those
who come through during the holidays.

We do food boxes

specifically for seniors
for Thanksgiving as well as for Christmas.

Every third

Thursday, we're out over at the Hope House
doing hot meals for the homeless.

We usually range between 70 to 90 meals.

Their Thanksgiving coming up,
we are going to be having a big, huge

Thanksgiving meal.

The last few years, it's
been over a thousand people who we have

either they've walked up to pick up
or we were able to deliver to shut ins

or we were able to

feed those and the apartment complexes

that were close to us.

We're always

and then or you have somebody just like
yesterday afternoon who comes to our door,

who is hungry, who hasn't eaten anything
for almost two days, that we're able

to bring give them basically a bag,
lunch and a few water. So.

That's right.

We were talking on the phone.

You said, I'm sorry, Paul,
I have a hungry person here.

I'm going
have to let you go. Like, perfect.

Yeah.

And you went and that happened right then.

We're obviously every day people
just walk up and then also the Angel tree.

So that's not necessarily a person
that's starving to death or homeless,

but some about an opportunity for for
Why do you do that I angel tree

so like I said as our angel tree
is children literally birth to age 12

it's herbs you can really see

the impact in our parishes under the angel
tree.

It's really cool

to actually see all of the bags
when they come in across our gym floor.

But one of the things you get

last year is actually a gentleman
from Webster Parish that called me.

He was a veteran.

He said,
I've always been able to pay my bills.

He said, But they entered my electric
bills the same price as my mortgage.

He said, I have three boys.

I have never been able to not get them
Christmas.

And and he starts
crying on the phone with me. And

I of course, I'm crying with him
because I was very pregnant last year.

So that didn't help me at all.

You're not a crier, are you?

Not in the least bit.

But just hearing how thankful
because he kept saying

thank you,
thank you, thank you, thank you.

And they want the most basic thing.

They want Legos, they want Nerf guns,
they want clothes to put on their back

or for school.

Hey, it's not your high end. Expensive.

Oh, I want a $700 iPad.

Now, these are the things that you can
easily pick up off the shelves.

And Walmart.

And we're looking to have

around 1700 to 800 kids again
this year. Wow.

When you call it an angel tree in the kids
names on the tree,

do you do you buy the gifts?
How how does it work?

So each of our angels
actually gets their own individual tag.

You get to learn their first name,

kind of their age, their gender,
and what they'd like for Christmas,

whether it's pop patrol and Cocomelon,

or whether it's maybe a tablet
and headphones for our older kids.

Because a few of those tablets have now
become a lot more affordable to get.

But we want to make sure that these kids
feel special and.

They don't wake up Christmas morning
with nothing.

Yeah.

So we're about out of time.

But let me let me ask you this, because
I know some people, based on your stories

and seeing your heart in this,
are going to want to contribute. Yes.

If if if you if there's somebody out there
that would like to make a donation,

obviously, the red kettles are coming up,
but we're still probably another month

away from that at least.
Now, just a week. Just a week.

Well, in the interim, if

they want to make a donation or
they don't want to go down to the store,

what is the best way for them to do that?

They can mail it to us at 200 East Donor
if they prefer to write a check.

If they want to do an online donation,
we can search Salvation Army, Northwest

Louisiana, and our website will pull up

and they can donate online that way.

And of course, if someone said
I don't really want to do financial,

but I'd love to do put more food
in your pantry, we're going to take it.

I mean, we asked the volunteers for your
kettle volunteer as a yes, please.

And thank you.

We love them to the world and back
because they are the army behind us,

because we can't do so much without them.

And you can can you volunteer?

Say we're going to have our Sunday
school wants to do three weekends this

this season or.

Yes, you don't have to sign up
in your 40 hours a week. It's

now you can sign up.

We'll be ringing from Tuesday
through Saturday.

We have about 38 locations
this Christmas season

that we're going to be able
to have the potential to ring at.

And each time,
whether you want to volunteer for 2 hours

or whether you want to get a group
and hash up a whole day,

we're going to make it work.

Wonderful. That's great.

And then one more thing.

If if a group or a person says,
Oh, I want to do Christmas

for one of these kids on the Angel tree,
where do you where do you find that?

Where is the angel tree?
Where do you get the names?

So there's going to be multiple
different locations all around town.

Of course, both
the malls are going to have angel trees.

We have one here at the core.

The other thing is, is
they can give us a call at 318 4430 200.

And they can say, hey,

I want a family of five and I'll be like,
all right, where are you at?

And I will drive it to you.

Because when it comes to kids,
when it comes to those need,

especially I want to
I want to see it happen.

And so and we coordinate right now.

I've been working with our businesses
that have actually adopted from last year.

And I want to say so
far, 90% of them have come back on board.

There's just a couple of voicemails
I'm waiting for them to answer,

but it's a lot of fun.

You get really attached to these kids.

Yeah,
I actually had someone earlier ask me.

They're like, Hey, the kid I adopted
last year, is she back on Angel Tree?

Can I get her? That's sweet.

So is there a that?

Do they know who it is? Is that yes or no?

So you kind of get an idea
based on the first name,

but you don't really know
where they're from.

We do get that feeling.

Yes. Right.

But it is those who are in Catto,
Bowser is those who are in DeSoto

as those who are in Sabine River, Webster
and Claiborne, Goode and Bienville.

I usually don't pass up those buckets,
but this year

I'm definitely not going to pass.

I guess I'm going to carry some changes.

I guess
I've got a bucket at home for a change.

I think I'll just before I go to the
Walmart closure and some closure there.

Yeah. Yeah.

Oh, Oh yeah. I'm not that cheap.

I guess you call me out here. Paul,

are you still have been forced
to dump the whole bucket in there?

Hey, we'll take it. We will take it.

But the other thing is, is
you can fundraise for us.

Like I was saying, you can go
on our website in a empty stocking.

You can say, Hey, I want to fundraise.

Say, $500 this year for Salvation Army
and every single penny that you

your fundraiser page,
you can see all your friends and family

who have donated
and you can say thank you to them, too,

because every dollar counts, those
reoccurring $5 donations that we get.

Those are some of my most favorite people
because I know

no matter how small we're going to use it,

we're going to make a purpose
with 87% of that's going right to drill.

I love your passion.
I appreciate you coming out.

Well, I appreciate you all have had me.

And it's an absolute blessing to be here.

All right.

Well, thank you, Julie, so much.

And Paul, always a pleasure.

Thanks, Michel.

Thanks so much for watching.

And for those of you listening,
thanks for listening.

And of course, if you can reach out
and help the Salvation Army of northwest

Louisiana, we'll see you later.