The Salvation Army is continuing to serve the needs of the community in Weyburn, with the COVID-19 pandemic making those needs even more acute in the past year, members of the Weyburn Rotary Club heard at their zoom lunch meeting on Thursday.
Lauralee Fanning is the community ministries coordinator for Weyburn, and she spoke about her own story as well as how the Salvation Army has been able to respond to needs over the past year, particularly over Christmas time.
Fanning had previously worked in Christian ministry prior to coming to Weyburn, as she worked out of Wetaskiwin, Alta., with people on the nearby Hobbema First Nation, including members of 13 different gangs as part of her outreach there. For a time she worked with the Salvation Army in Regina after moving back to Saskatchewan, to Lang, where she currently resides.
She gave up that position after her husband had a heart attack, and then after seeing an ad for the community ministries coordinator in Weyburn, she applied and was accepted for that position, and started in October.
Fanning had her own heart episode in November, which kept her off work for a month before she returned to her duties (after getting four stents put in), and in spite of COVID restrictions, the Salvation Army was quite busy over Christmas.
As she explained her philosophy behind her work, Fanning said, 鈥淒ignity is a fundamental human right. No one should be without food or the ability to work. These past few months have been amazing for me.鈥�
She added that she has met 鈥渟o many wonderful people in this community鈥� since taking on her new position, with many individuals and businesses calling her to wish her well and to introduce themselves to her.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been awesome, and I want to thank all of you because Weyburn has been very, very welcoming to me,鈥� said Fanning.
The Salvation Army has had to adjust to the COVID restrictions, she explained, but noted the food bank is still open and is very busy 鈥� which is one of the impacts of the pandemic.
鈥淲e have many new families coming, because they need the food due to the fact they鈥檙e laid off and the like, so we鈥檝e been getting a lot more families,鈥� she said.
She has been posting a prayer request list of needed items for the food bank on Facebook every Friday, and in this way she鈥檚 able to keep people informed as to what current needs are.
Fanning pointed out the Thrift Store is also open, and they are following all COVID-19 restrictions set out by public health officials, such as requiring everyone to wear a mask while in the building and maintain the proper physical distancing.
鈥淲e鈥檙e taking donations again, but due to COVID, we鈥檙e asking for a limit of two or three bags per family,鈥� said Fanning, pointing out the Salvation Army receives anywhere from 50 to 100 bags of items every day.
The Salvation Army had kettles out at Christmas, but they were unmanned, keeping smaller kettles at the till of a number of local businesses instead.
The Salvation Army had donations at Christmas totaling $128,000, and they received many donations of toys and turkeys, which enabled them to provide a good Christmas to many families in the Weyburn area.
As an adjustment for COVID rules, they set up a toy store in the old store location, and parents who had applied for a Christmas hamper were able to come in and select up to three toys for their children.
鈥淚t was amazing, as 170 children were taken care of, and over 100 families were given Christmas dinners,鈥� said Fanning. 鈥淲e helped all those who came out, even those who weren鈥檛 registered and showed up on the 23rd and the 24th. We had enough for all. They all had a merry Christmas, and so did we.鈥�
Meantime, she is making plans for the coming year, and 鈥渓ike everyone, we鈥檙e waiting anxiously to reopen.鈥�
She will be starting up a women鈥檚 Bible study in April in their conference room, which will have a limit of five women, and in June and July, they will be providing lunches for children in the Weyburn area.
They are currently working on recertifying their kitchen in their former location, said Fanning, for the preparation of the lunches. In the event they aren鈥檛 able to recertify the kitchen, other churches in the Weyburn Ministerial Association have offered the use of their kitchens for the program.
鈥淲e鈥檒l be needing donations of food, but also people to help with the lunches,鈥� said Fanning, adding they will also be looking for volunteers for other needs, such as in August to fill the backpacks for children going back to school in the fall.
鈥淭his time of year we鈥檙e usually getting geared up for camp, but that has stopped because of COVID, but it hasn鈥檛 stopped stopped camp from coming to the kids. We鈥檒l be hosting a day camp in July, with the dates to be announced. It will be held in our old church building,鈥� said Fanning, noting the camp will be open to children aged six to 12 years of age.
Asked what staff are working at the Salvation Army right now, Fanning noted they have four full-time and two part-time workers, plus the director, who looks after the Weyburn and Estevan units. There is no captain or major at the current time, as they no longer hold church services in Weyburn.
