SALT LAKE CITY — Captain James Combs has served with The Salvation Army for 12 years, but his story with the organization began when he was nine.
"My family was saved from the streets with The Salvation Army," Combs said. "My mom walked into a Salvation Army when she realized she couldn't feed her own kids, she didn't have enough funds, so The Salvation Army provided that food box for my family."
Now he gets to pay that help forward at The Salvation Army's Salt Lake City post. At the post, they provide services like a food pantry, financial assistance, and more.
"We're kind of confronting homelessness, but also poverty on multiple levels here in Salt Lake City," Combs said. "The pricing of housing is astronomical here, even continues to grow up, the price of food continues to get higher and higher every day."
Those challenges aren't unique to Salt Lake City, which is why The Salvation Army has posts across the state, country, and world to help those in need — including Major Robert Schmig's post in Southern Utah. The St. George post provides similar services as the Salt Lake City post but tailored to those in southern Utah.
"Many people think of us during Christmas, you can't miss the bell ringers, but then the summer, it's easy to forget there are still people that are in need, there are still people that are hungry," Schmig said.
This week, all Salvation Army posts across the country are celebrating National Salvation Army Week — a week first declared by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1954.
"National Salvation Army Week is a great opportunity to tell our story, to tell people what we're doing here today in our community, but to also tell people about the legacy of the Salvation Army," said Lt. Kate Combs.
Lt. Combs, Captain Combs and Major Schmig hope their message reaches those in need and those who want to help — this week and year-round.
"If it can make a difference in even one life, one family, it's all worth it," said Schmig.
If you'd like to learn more about Salvation Army volunteer opportunities across our state, you can visit here.
