• Sarah Schmitt

Sweet Treats and “Scary Stories”

Lakeland, Fl (October 15, 2024) - The Salvation Army is known for mobile feeding sites, faith and salvation, continued care, and programs. There are eight mobile feeding sites in Hillsborough and Polk Counties where survivors receive hot meals, drinks, and emotional and spiritual care. Time of day and location impact numbers, but the results are the same: people come for help. In the process of waiting, stories unfold from everyone impacted by Hurricane Milton.

In addition to the larger voice, the smaller voices need to be highlighted to the larger world to highlight the impact both physically and emotionally.

Taking inventory of survivor stories is the objective. Finding stories from younger survivors is a blessing. They do not know how to express their big emotions with their tender hearts. In adult perspectives, their loss value equations do not carry the same weight, since losing a house is different from losing a treasure like a toy, but to a child, it is everything.

The "little voices" do not resonate the same "big impact" on a worldly scale, but giving comfort renders a worldly impact when hope is embedded in the heart because as the child grows, they remember the impact of The Salvation Army on them. Their stories matter.

Children respond to adults kneeling to their level, looking into their eyes, and offering the option "would you like a candy?". With true delight the small voice unwrapped a lollipop and said she had a “scary story. She explained how water came into her house and loud noises were heard outside in the dark. She explained how everything outside was coming inside and that she “didn’t want to get blown away.” She hid from the scary.

The little girl told of her parents' reaction and how she loved the candy and stickers. When asked who The Salvation Army is, it was explained childlike that it is the Army of Jesus. The little girl rejoiced that she "loves Jesus' Army."

The Salvation Army provides compassionate listening, emotional and spiritual care, and provision of hot meals, water, and clean-up kits to survivors and their families.

The Salvation Army is dedicated to serving ALL without discrimination, meeting human needs in His name.

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