Hope & Perseverance Take Centre Stage at London’s Hope in the City

Hope and perseverance – that was the message at The Salvation Army’s 6th annual Hope in the City Breakfast, held on November 15, 2017, at London’s Best Western Lamplighter Inn.

In a room full of government, corporate and community leaders, the breakfast provided an opportunity to discover ways to collaborate with the Army, to bring vital services to the vulnerable.

The annual Hope Award was presented to a woman who connected with The Salvation Army through the Centre of Hope when she was a victim of human trafficking. The Salvation Army encouraged Caroline Pugh-Roberts to complete her grade 12 and Human Services Foundations program. She is currently in the Social Service Worker program and is an active member of the London Anti-Human Trafficking committee, and a strong advocate for others caught in the sex trade.

The Keynote Speaker is celebrated as a national hero. Darby Allen is an example of selfless courage and level-headedness under pressure. Allen was Regional Fire Chief of the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo (now retired), an area that encompasses the community of Fort McMurray.

Allen recounted the monstrous Alberta wildfires and just how much hope and perseverance it took as a community to survive one of the biggest evacuations in Canadian history.

 

 

Just like he did in the face of disaster in Alberta, he brought calm, an air of gravitas, and so much humanity to the stage in London.

Allen operates with a similar moral compass as the Army, explaining “Leaders listen more than they talk.”