The mission at Bethesda has been to provide the highest standard of holistic care to young mothers and their babies since 1955.   The Salvation Army commits to current residents finding suitable alternative accommodation and will not leave any of the moms and babies without adequate support from other community programs and services.

“The primary concern of Salvation Army officials is for the continued well-being of those under our care” says Lieut.-Colonel Lee Graves, Divisional Commander.  “Our goal moving forward is to ensure the best possible outcomes for the residents and staff.  We also commit that during these days of transition, the high quality of care and service that has always been offered at the London Bethesda Centre will continue”.

The Salvation Army will continue to serve the people in the London area on a daily basis through our other community programs:

• The Centre of Hope at 281 Wellington Street
• The London Community & Family Services Program at 281 Wellington Street
• The London Village Day Care at 1340 Dundas Street East
• The Alzheimers Adult Day Program at 1340 Dundas Street East
• The Respite Care Program at 1340 Dundas Street East
• The Correctional & Justice Services at 281 Wellington Street
• The Salvation Army London Citadel a 555 Springbank Drive
• The Salvation Army Westminster Park Church at 1190 Southdale Rd. East
• The Salvation Army Hillcrest Community Church at 310 Vesta Road

This year, BOB FM and the Western Fair extended their generosity to include the Salvation Army. They recently donated some of the Fair backpacks to the Centre of Hope’s annual Back-to-School program, earning them an A+ for kindness!

In 2011, our Back-to-School program distributed 282 backpacks full of school supplies to students whose families could not afford them. We believe that beginning the school year with supplies helps students make a positive start toward a successful future. Unfortunately, the demand always exceeds supplies. We are very grateful for this unexpected donation as it will allow us to kick-off the 2012 Back-to-School program with a solid stock of backpacks – a basic need of students heading back to class in September.  We appreciate partners, like BOB FM and the Western Fair, who recognize the needs of our community and support many of the Salvation Army’s outreach programs.

Each year during the month of December, BOB-FM, in partnership with London Mitsubishi, holds a toy drive “BOB’s Magical Mountain of Toys” for the annual Christmas Hamper Program.  The London Mitsubishi Santa’s Sleigh is used to pick up toy donations at local businesses to help build the “Mountain”.

When BOB-FM realized the ongoing need for food experienced by The Salvation Army they decided they could do something to help.

With the full support of London Mitsubishi who extended the use of Santa’s Sleigh, BOB held a food drive at three London No Frills locations this January.  Salvation Army volunteers, along with BOB-FM, manned a table at each No Frills where customers could purchase bags of food for $5 or $10 filled with items most needed by The Salvation Army.  These were then loaded into Santa’s Sleigh and delivered to The Salvation Army London Centre of Hope.

The response was remarkable!

“We are so grateful to BOB-FM and all their listeners for their ongoing support of The Salvation Army”, says Perron Goodyear, Public Relations Representative.  “The partnership with BOB has allowed us to bring hope and dignity to so many families during these difficult economic times”.

Thank you BOB-FM listeners! Because of your generosity, 100′s of bags of food were delivered to the London Centre of Hope, Community Services.

Lieut.-Colonel Lee Graves                                       

Divisional Commander – Ontario Great Lakes

Bandmaster John Lam and the London Citadel Band started off the evening of musical praise with Fanfare Jubiloso by James Curnow and also presented a rich collection of pieces including Christ is Born by Robert Redhead. Guest tuba soloist, Rob Brown, of Toronto, also treated the audience to solos on his tuba. His first number was Frosty the Snowman to the delight of all the children.  His version of The Carnivore of Venice displayed the immense talent this musician brings to the stage and the audience sat mesmerized by the range and quality of the performance.  He not only played superbly but also brought a comic element to it when a phone call from his mother interrupted his performance. Bandmaster John Lam also took the opportunity that evening to recognize two longstanding members of the band for their contributions over the years. Bernard Doars and Ron Gilbert served a combined 84 years with the London Citadel Band. Now retiring from the band, they were presented with plaques to commemorate their years of service.

First-St. Andrew’s United Church Choir, one of the finest church choirs in Southwestern Ontario, under the direction of Paul Merritt, sang Oh Glory, written by Joseph Joubert. They also brought with them a young soloist, Thomas Samson–Williams, who delighted the audience with his crystal clear, angelic voice while he performed a Christmas Lullaby by John Rutter.  They then sang We Wish You A Merry Christmas, arr. John Rutter.

Each year during The Festival of Carols, The Salvation Army presents the Jack Burghardt Award of Excellence to a deserving individual or business who has supported The Salvation Army in a significant way.  In 2010, Rick McMullin of Ricky Ratchets Auto Repair was chosen for his long-standing contribution to the Christmas Toy Drive that is held each year.  Unfortunately, last year’s Festival of Carols was unable to proceed due to bad weather and so this year was an opportunity for Major Kathie Chiu, Executive Director of The Centre of Hope, to publicly thank Rick and his wife Linda for their continued efforts to fill their annual Christmas Bus with toys for children.  Present for that award was Jack Burghardt’s son, Dave and his grandson, Andrew.

Finishing off the evening was a Christmas Meditation brought by Divisional Commander, Lieut.-Colonel Lee Graves, and the singing of Silent Night by the audience. London Citadel Band  offered one final selection entitled A Christmas Finale by Paul Lovatt-Cooper.

Step Seven President Chris Gonder stands by a truck full of donations for the Christmas Hamper Program.

A delightful sight greeted Frank and Becky, Centre of Hope London staff, when they walked into Step Seven Inc. on a chilly afternoon; a room full of new toys in great mountainous piles to be donated. Chris G., President of Step Seven Inc., was pleased to help load the toys into The Salvation Army truck and send them off to be used for the Christmas Hamper program. Stocks of educational toys, wooden blocks and singing bears were among the many toys that came to the hamper depot to be sorted and bagged for needy children inLondon. This is not the last we’ve heard from Step Seven Inc.; the toy donations keep coming. Thank you to such a wonderful partner who sees the importance of supporting such a needed program in our city.

 Each hamper consists of a turkey or chicken and fixings for Christmas dinner, along with gifts for every child younger than 12.

 The Salvation Army anticipates assisting more than 5,000 London household this Christmas including in excess of 7,000 children.

About The Salvation Army

The Salvation Army is an international Christian organization that began its work inCanadain 1882 and has grown to become the largest non-governmental direct provider of social services in the country. The Salvation Army gives hope and support to vulnerable people today and everyday in 400 communities acrossCanadaand more than 120 countries around the world. The Salvation Army offers practical assistance for children and families, often tending to the basic necessities of life, providing shelter for homeless people and rehabilitation for people who have lost control of their lives to an addiction.

 When you give to The Salvation Army, you are investing in the future of marginalized and overlooked people in your community.

Without the donations and support of many community organizations like Hewitt, we couldn’t provide assistance to so many of our neighbours. Thank you Hewitt Material Handling!

A sincere thank you goes to Ross Towing who donated the shipping of the equipment to our Hamper facility at the Western Fair District. Your generosity is heartwarming.

The Salvation Army Christmas Hamper program provides a bag of toys to children (ages 0-12) and everything a family needs for a traditional Christmas dinner to over 5000 households. Without the support of theLondoncommunity, this program would not be possible.

 Thanks, Shaun, for working so hard every year to give Londoners a happy Christmas.