Chick-fil-A founder featured at DTMG fund-raiser in
Georgia
The Salvation Army recently featured Truett
Cathy as the guest speaker during The Salvation Army's first annual Doing
The Most Good prayer breakfast in Lawrenceville, Ga. The funds raised by the
event will support the Catherine Booth Parenting Institute, which provides
various classes, study groups and mentoring/advocacy programs to needy families
throughout Gwinnett County.
Cathy, a long-time friend
and supporter of The Salvation Army, still travels across the country speaking
to all audiences about Chick-fil-A business and fulfilling the Chick-fil-A
corporate purpose "To glorify God by being a faithful steward of all that
is entrusted to us and to have a positive influence on all that come into
contact with Chick-fil-A."
"It is an honor and
blessing for The Salvation Army to be associated with such a fine member of our
community," said Captain Bobby Westmoreland, Lawrenceville corps officer.
"We are thrilled to have Truett Cathy be part of this event. Mr.
Cathy's unquestionable integrity and character is well-known throughout the
business world and community at large."
$1 million raised
for DFW Army
The Dallas-Fort Worth
Metroplex Command's 116th annual meeting was the largest to date with 1,450
people in attendance. The event raised more than $1 million through
sponsorships and ticket sales, making it the highest-grossing Salvation Army
annual meeting in the world. Last year's luncheon raised $750,000.
"This monumental accomplishment is more than just a milestone
for Salvation Army history books," said Major Mark Brown, DFW Metroplex
commander. "It will help fund the 46 services here in North Texas that
provide vital assistance for more than 126,000 men, women, and children each
year."
The driving forces behind the event's
success were advisory board member Linda McFarland, annual meeting chair, and
Ray Nixon, advisory board chair. Nixon told the audience that of the 5 million
people in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, 640,000 live in poverty, and 20 percent
are children.
Commissioner Israel Gaither, National
Commander, was keynote speaker. Gaither built his speech around Dallas'
slogan, "Live Large, Think Big." He said The Salvation Army also
thinks and dreams big.
"Just imagine what might happen
economically if those who lack the power to dream their better future could
come from the edge into the center of this great community," he said.
"The Salvation Army is in Dallas to demonstrate to those on the edges of
this world-class city that they, too, can dream again; [that] their hopes can
be restored."
Patrick Patey
EBC Board of Visitors welcomes new members
The Evangeline Booth College Board of Visitors welcomed new
members at its October meeting at the EBC campus (L-R): Dr. Jean DeVard-Kemp
and G. Dan Spruill (new members); Commissioner Max Feener; Stephen B. Bull,
board chairman; Carol Eckard Lowrey, Gary Bracken and Leland Phillips (new
members).
Living the promise
By Chris Priest
Have
you been "caught" doing the most good? Are you making the promise
daily of doing the most good in everything you do, with everyone you meet? What
about the five core values describing the personality of the Army - Passionate,
Compassionate, Brave, Uplifting, Trustworthy? Are they dominant in your
thinking when dealing with others? Have you been sharing The Salvation
Army's unique story as a Christian movement with family, friends, work
colleagues, professional acquaintances, neighbors and others you talk to
regularly?
If you can't check off all of the above, you
may not be contributing to the consistency of the brand. Our skilled and proven
advisors in public awareness matters insist that consistency is the foundation
for building strong brands and educating and influencing the public. That
consistency then raises awareness of who, what and why we exist.
O.K., if none of this is clear, you could be part of a group of
officers, soldiers, employees and volunteers who have heard about the
Army's national branding promise, but only from a colleague. Perhaps you
have seen it on our letterhead, not in a formal "rollout" either at
the corps, the center or at DHQ. You may be skeptical, even a little cynical,
about an "arrogant statement" that has become part of our Army
language nationwide.
I have had two or three say to me that
"Heart to God, hand to man" was far more meaningful to the public. If
that was the case, why do very few out there know us as a church? Someone
actually tried to petition the National Commander to eliminate the promise and
"keep" what is just a slogan. Someone who has given a lifetime of
service forcibly told me that they "hate the new slogan." But once
the branding promise was explained to them, many Salvationists concurred that
it embraces what our movement has strived to accomplish for over 141
years.
How many times have we heard that we are the
country's greatest secret, and that our public profile should be much
higher, especially in times of disaster. To share our "secret" and to
become more visible is only achievable if we are united in our conviction and
commitment to speak as one organization, with one message. That message has to
be short (to be remembered), consistent (universally proclaimed) and indicative
of our mission. In terms of fund raising, Doing the Most Good is positioned to
influence those who want to positively affect their world, by identifying The
Salvation Army as the charity that maximizes donations.
Just inside the perimeter of our ranks, in the advisory
organizations across our territory, the branding promise of Doing the Most Good
is not only welcomed, it is embraced with open arms. One board member told me
that he not only supports the promise, he said "it's what the Army
does every day." Another shared that his excitement was more because the
branding promise is uniting our organization as a nation, with all four
territories adopting the promise at every point of contact. "It's
about time," he said.
Our greatest challenge is sharing
our mission statement in terms of who we are, as "part of the universal
Christian Church..." What better than to speak of "Doing the most
good for mankind, by ... preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ, and meeting
human need in His name without discrimination."
While
our church affiliation is important, there can be no higher motive than to
evangelize the name of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior to the unbeliever. I
encourage each of you to first "be" the branding promise, speaking it
and living its wonderful promise daily; live out those core values as your own,
and evangelize the name of Christ to all by doing the most good, every
day.
If you have not experienced a branding promise rollout,
contact your corps officer, or write to:
communications_burea@us
s.salvationarmy.org