The Salvation Army Mid-Columbia

The new 13,000-square-foot Salvation Army Community Center in Richland is scheduled to open today. The $1.6 million community center was built as the result of a fire that razed the organization's old building in 2002.

New Walls For Worship

Published Monday, October 24th, 2005
By Elena Olmstead, Herald staff writer

The congregation of the Salvation Army church and community center experienced what it was like to worship in a church last week.

It was the first time in a long time.

The group of 55 has spent the past three years meeting every Sunday morning in the small social services lobby of the Salvation Army building in Pasco.

Capt. Raymond Erickson-King with the Richland Salvation Army chapter said standing in front of church members and leading the sermon in the new chapel was strange.

"I'm so used to talking, like right on top of them," he said. "We went from an intimate situation to a formal format."

The spacious new chapel is just a small part of improvements that have come with the construction of the new Salvation Army Corps Community Center at the corner of Thayer Drive and Williams Boulevard in Richland. The building includes a large youth drop-in center, a multipurpose room, several administrative offices, classrooms, a large kitchen and plenty of storage.

The $1.6 million community center was built as the result of a fire that razed the organization's old building in 2002.

Erickson-King said money for construction came from insurance and $200,000 in local donations.

The Salvation Army celebrated the completion of the 13,000-square-foot building last week and is opening its doors to the public today.

Erickson-King said he's excited about once again offering a youth drop-in center in the neighborhood, and for the first time offering social services out of the Richland office. The drop-in center is on the second floor of the building and is filled with everything from a comfortable sofa to air hockey and foosball tables.

Erickson-King said the drop-in center also has some more academic features, including a computer lab and homework station. The center will be staffed by two Columbia Basin College students.

Erickson-King said that while the new building was under construction, the Salvation Army was forced to conduct all of its youth programs out of a rented modular unit at its Pasco office. He said the organization would pick up children in Richland and bus them to Pasco to take part in programs such as the youth choir.

"We're very adaptive," Erickson-King said. "We didn't let things deter us."

Colleen Miller, social services director, still is getting used to her new role within the organization. Instead of working strictly out of the Pasco office, Miller will be splitting her time between the two facilities. She will be in Richland on Wednesdays and Pasco the rest of the week.

Miller said the Salvation Army offers a number of social services, including rental assistance and an emergency food bank. She said the trick is going to be meeting with other social service providers in the area to ensure they don't duplicate their offerings.

"We're trying to find out how we can work together," she said.

Offering social services in Richland, Miller said, will help the organization better serve those who live in Richland, West Richland, Benton City and parts of Kennewick.

"We're hopefully hitting a collection of clients who couldn't make it to Pasco," Miller said.

However, the project is not yet complete.

Erickson-King said money still is being raised to build a 14,000-square-foot gymnasium on the south side of the building. The new gym is estimated to cost $1 million, and so far the organization has raised $200,000.

Christmas carols played by Capt. Raymond Erickson-King of the Salvation Army caught the attention of Sarah Greene, 4, and her mother, Beth, of Richland on Friday night at Jefferson Park in Richland. More than 100 people participated in the annual "Walk For the Needy" from the park to John Dam Plaza.

Walk For The Needy Brings Out Giving Spirit

Published Saturday, November 26th, 2005
By Annette Cary, Herald staff writer

Each year Coleman Navarre, 8, and his brother, Ty, 6, pick out food to pack into a box to help the needy the day after Thanksgiving.

This year the box they delivered Friday to the annual Walk for the Needy and Luminaria in Richland included dog food.

"It's just for people who have dogs and don't have the money to feed them," said Coleman, of Richland.

Peggy Simkins' message seems to be getting through to her two young grandsons.

"I want them to know we need to share what we have with others," she said, as the boys drank hot chocolate before the annual walk began down George Washington Way.

More than 100 people made the trek this year from Jefferson Park near the Uptown Shopping Center to John Dam Plaza, their way lighted with luminaria and accompanied by Christmas carols played on the trumpet by Capt. Raymond Erickson-King of the Salvation Army.

They were generous with their donations, many bringing boxes and bags filled with canned goods to be given out by the Salvation Army and the Richland Branch of the Tri-Cities Food Bank.

"Some people don't have food," said Shelby McAdie, 7, of Richland. Her family had brought its annual donation of canned food, instant mashed potatoes and stuffing to Jefferson Park.

For many it was a way to end the day that started with a holiday shopping spree with thoughts and help for the less fortunate.

It was much nicer than shopping, said Callie Marriner, 19, of Yakima. She and her mother, Robin Jones, of Pasco, brought not only food, but also made warm fleece scarves to donate.

Donations weren't totaled Friday night, but the Walk for the Needy often brings in more than 1,000 pounds of food.

The Tri-Cities Food Bank gives out seven tons of food a year, said director Art King.

"I lot of people who come never expected to be there," he said, mentioning the layoffs that have put Hanford workers and others out of work this year. The food bank is there to help people across the rough patch in their lives, he said.

Don't forget that it's not just food that people may be lacking in the holiday season, Erickson-King said.

"There are also people who are lonely this time of year and need companionship," he said.

* Reporter Annette Cary can be reached at 582-1533 or via e-mail at acary@tri-city herald.com.

Kettles December 2005

Customers come and go Friday at the Food Pavilion grocery store in Pasco as Anthony Vedder of Pasco rings the Salvation Army bell. Mid-Columbia Salvation Army officials said donations are falling far behind last year's levels, most likely because of donations sent for victims of Hurricane Katrina and the Indian Ocean tsunami earlier this year.

Thanksgiving 2005

Pablo Garcia, 18-months, does a happy little jig as he enjoys his Thanksgiving dinner with his uncle, Carlos Vences, 13, both of Pasco, at the Salvation Army's annual community Thanksgiving dinner at Longfellow Elementary School in Pasco. Regardless of income, families were invited to have dinner at the school.

Youth Drop-In Center Opens

Capt. Raymond Erickson-King with the Salvation Army holds up his arms to help line up a pool table as Salvation Army employees Bryan McKinney, left, and Nick Piippo help arrange items in the agency's new community center. The new facility at 1219 Thayer Drive in Richland replaces one that was destroyed by fire in 2002. They were working in the youth drop-in center, which has been out of commission since then.