Today, Christmas Day, is traditionally a day for family, gift giving and fun. Roy loves Christmas, but he never forgets that gift giving isn’t just about the people you know. Sometimes the nicest gifts are the ones which help others. Many of his friends leave gifts under communal ‘giving trees’ to be sent to those who are less fortunate and others donate food or toys to charity to be distributed. Yet all too often, charity is something people think about only at Christmas time.
You might remember that last year, for New Year, Roy made a piggy bank. He named her Petunia and decided to fill her up throughout the year and then donate her to charity. All year, Roy and I have been filling her up with loose change, money left on the end of the bench and coins we found. She was a very heavy, healthy little pig by this Christmas! A few weeks ago Roy donated Petunia to his chosen charity and this week he wanted to tell you who that charity was and why he chose it.
When Roy was thinking about charities he could donate Petunia to, shortly after he finished making her, he kept thinking back to something my Great Grandma used to say; ‘always look after the Salvos, because they always look after us’. Her husband had been in the fledgling Australian Airforce during the First World War and the Salvation Army provided him much support and assistance. He told her 'you must never turn your back on the Salvos'. Roy decided that Gran and Great Grandpa would like it if Petunia went to the Salvos, but then began to wonder what else the Salvation Army did during Gran's lifetime which made them so well loved. Gran was born in 1903 and lived through two World Wars, the Great Depression and a variety of other hardships. Throughout these times, the Salvos were always there, and their dedication to helping people made them very important to many Australians.
The Salvation Army are a specific denomination of Christian Church. They believe that they can best express love for God through helping people. Although they are Christian, and are religious people, they don’t only help those who share their faith. In fact, they are one of the biggest and most active social welfare providers in the world! The Salvation Army has been active in Australia for well over 100 years. Edward Saunders and John Gore met accidentally in Adelaide in 1880 and decided to start the Salvation Army movement in Australia. They wrote to the General in England for help and held the first Salvation Army meeting in the Botanic Gardens in Adelaide, 1880. Within two years they had established congregations in Sydney and Melbourne. Throughout all of their history, they have emphasised the importance of helping people. Even at the first ever meeting an invitation was extended to anyone who hadn’t had a good meal to go home with Gore to share his tea! During the wars they provided physical and spiritual support to soldiers, and in the photo above, which Roy owns, you can see them distributing doughnuts to servicemen in France. Similarly, during the Depression they were there to help where possible, distributing aid and support without discrimination. As Gran said ‘always look after the Salvos, because they always look after us’.
