Salvation Army offering services in time of COVID-19

In March, when the COVID-19 pandemic first began to impact Alaska, many local businesses and organizations in Wrangell shut down. While many groups saw the time as an opportunity to wait and see how the pandemic would change things in the community, the Wrangell Salvation Army took the opportunity to renovate and upgrade. Now that they and other local groups are as close to business-as-usual as they can be in this time, the Salvation Army wanted to remind people struggling through the pandemic that they have many programs available that could interest them.

"We chose to use that time to deep clean and renovate our facility," Lt. Jon Tollerud said. "We put new paint up, we kind of redesigned and reformatted our building so that it could be used in every way possible ... So we basically have just done everything we can to ensure that once we reopen the facility it was clean, it was ready, it was usable for everything possible."

One of the programs the Salvation Army has available to those in need is a food pantry. Tollerud said that their pantry is well stocked right now. The pantry is open once a week, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. every Tuesday. However, Tollerud said that if that is a bad time for someone in need of groceries, they can call ahead and they will prepare a box for them, to be picked up at a later date.

On the topic of food, Tollerud said that the Salvation Army is staying in contact with city officials and the local Emergency Operations Command to make sure they are aware of ways they can help in case of emergency. The Salvation Army is prepared to help, Tollerud said, in the hypothetical scenario the city's grocery stores have to close down. With their current supplies, he said they could feed 2,400 people for 182 days via weekly food baskets. If the

Salvation Army offered two meals a day, instead of food baskets, they could extend that to 374 days.

Tollerud also said that they have a storage space full of emergency supplies such as blankets, towels, gloves, and other items that can be used in other types of emergencies. They are also working on getting a large supply of hand sanitizer.

"Captain Dorianne [Sprehe] is aware, she knows our capabilities," Tollerud said.

Providing financial aid to the public is another goal of the Salvation Army, he said. They have applied for CARES Act funding, he said, and the Salvation Army serves as a middle man facilitating the distribution of the money to those in need. The money can be used to help people who have been displaced by their job because of COVID-19, as well as rent and utility assistance.

Tollerud said that they are aiming to bring in $250,000 in grants this fiscal year for public assistance. The grants they are applying for would give the Salvation Army few limitations to facilitate the use of the grant money so there will hopefully be fewer hoops to jump through on getting the funds to those in need. The trick, he said, is finding grant opportunities that do not have a lot of requirements and restrictions.

"That would be rent and utility assistance," he said. "The big problem with that is my wife and I are very, very strict on the fact that we want very few limitations on how we can send that money. We want it to be our choice, not the granter's choice. If somebody comes to us and says 'I'm in need,' we want to be able to say yes, or say no based on what we hear in the interview, not 'This is what is required.'"

He added that they are aiming to raise $80,000 locally this year, which he said will go straight to those in need within Wrangell.

Other programs at the Salvation Army include church services, a library, and as people become more willing to go out and interact with each other, Tollerud said, a community center. He added that applications for Thanksgiving food baskets, and food and toys for Christmas, will open up on Oct. 1. The Salvation Army can be reached at (907) 874-3753.