Things To Do Tomorrow: Drink Coffee, Rush To Work, Make The World A Better Place.

Things To Do Tomorrow: Drink Coffee, Rush To Work, Make The World A Better Place.

By Carlos C. Franco
April 3, 2007

VISTA, CA. – “Really, I can’t tell you how many compliments I get about our book and AV section. ‘The Major’ was even impressed. He said he wished all of his stores could look the same as this one.” beamed a hurried Scott Waters, General Manager of the Salvation Army’s Family Boutique Thrift Store in Vista.

For those of you who don’t know, The Salvation Army is “An international movement, [it] is an evangelical part of the universal Christian Church. Its message is based on the Bible. Its ministry is motivated by the love of God. Its mission is to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and to meet human needs in His name without discrimination.” as quoted from the S.A. website. But I’d like to tell you how it is seen through our eyes; and by “our eyes,” I mean through the eyes of some of its most dedicated volunteers.

I work as a “Job Coach” for a community based day program that helps to service the needs of adults with developmental disabilities living in the Tri-city area (Oceanside, Vista, and Carlsbad.) Part of our occupational curriculum is volunteer work. It helps to strengthen our work ethic, enhance our social skills, and allows us to participate in our community in a positive/productive manner. Every Tuesday and Thursday, our work group (consisting of three clients and myself,) waits patiently at the donations drop-off entrance for Mr. Waters to come in to work (two hours before the store opens) to let us in to work. The other employees also waiting for Mr. Waters, greet us kindly, and attempt to carry on as casual of a conversation with us as is possible. “You guys always do an excellent job.” says Cris Erp, a nine month veteran of the Salvation Army program. She followed up by adding, “You guys are extremely helpful and we appreciate all of your hard work.”

We begin by re-shelving all the books that have found their way to every corner of the store. As far as distances and irony go, the Travel books don’t make it nearly as far as the Children’s books do. Next, we bring as much overstock from the back as we can, and fill in any and all gaps on the shelves. This is done not only with the books, but also with the audiocassette tapes, and VHS tapes. When we first started volunteering at this site, just re-shelving the books would take close to all of our time. Now, we can put our section back together in about an hour and fifty minutes. The last ten minutes we spend inspecting our site, throwing away trash, and getting/giving high-fives to all of our co-workers and each other.

The Salvation Army Thrift Store is an indispensable part of our occupational training and social growth. It represents our determination to achieve our goals, and the kind of open-handed tolerance that we as a society should strive to establish as the backbone of our nature (regardless of our rooted, ideological differences.) It exists to help those in need, and always values charity in any form.

For more information about The Salvation Army, please visit: www.salvationarmy.org
For information on becoming a possible volunteer/work site for my group, please call: TLC Vocational Services at 760.497.5292 and ask to speak to Michelle Coffee