The new ministries coordinator for Weyburn’s Salvation Army, Lauralee Fanning, is excited to serve the people of Weyburn, to help out any person or family who needs it. (In the photo above, Fanning is accepting a donation of $250 from Doug Loden, president of the Weyburn Rotary Club, on Friday to go towards the food bank.)
The resident of Lang took over the position about a month ago after serving as a coordinator of a street ministry in Alberta, and as a community worker in fundraising for the Christmas kettles for the Salvation Army in Regina.
She grew up in Regina, and after living for five years out of province, including in Alberta working at non-profit ministries, she came back to Regina, moving to Lang about two years ago.
When Fanning saw an ad for the community ministries coordinator in Weyburn, she applied for the position, along with applying for two jobs in Regina — and she was accepted for all three positions. She took the Weyburn position because she loves the community and wanted the opportunity to serve here.
“I applied for it because I really wanted this job, I felt this is where I was supposed to be,” she said. “I love working with people. I believe everybody, everybody at some time needs a help up.”
As a part of the Salvation Army ministry, she said this could be anything from clothing to furniture to food, or it could be just a listening ear or to pray with them if they want.
“My door is always open,” she said. “Being a Christian organization is awesome, as people are willing to share their stories.”
As the ministries coordinator, she is responsible for the Christmas programs offered by the Salvation Army, and there are changes this year, in large part due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
For families, the Salvation Army is asking for the support of residents and businesses to supply more toys, as they will have parents of children come in and choose three toys for each child instead of having parents supply a wish list, for those who apply for assistance this Christmas.
“We have a lot of people coming in who have never used the food bank before, ever, and they have children who need to have a Christmas. We want to make sure all children will have three toys each,” said Fanning. “So we’re praying for toys to come in. As a corporation, we will be taking care of all their needs, and there will be a hamper for them.”
The Christmas kettles will also be out in the community this year, but they have had to make changes there also due to COVID. The longtime coordinator for the campaign, Helen Orsted, has retired from that position, and another coordinator will shortly be joining them.
Once the new coordinator is in place, she will be contacting all of those who have volunteered for the kettles before to see if they are willing to do it this year, said Fanning, recognizing some may choose not to because of concerns over COVID.
“We will take cash donations at the office,” she noted, as they will try to make things COVID safe for everyone, with protocols in place for the volunteers to follow.
The Salvation Army will not be holding their community Christmas supper this year, due to COVID, but will look to helping out in other ways if they can.
One of the major sources of money and food for the Salvation Army each year has been the Holiday Train, but this has been cancelled by CP Rail (again, due to COVID), but they will be doing a virtual concert with donations to be made to the food banks the train has supported in past years.
“It’s different for everybody, but Weyburn and surrounding area are so generous, and we will make sure everybody is taken care of. It’s going to look different, but I believe God will supply everyone’s needs,” said Fanning.
Besides donations, a big need for the Salvation Army is for volunteers, such as around their Thrift Store and food bank location, or in manning a kettle this Christmas, or even just to help sort out items at their location, she said.
Her hope is to build a base of volunteers that she can call on as needed throughout the year.
“We have lots of areas we could use volunteers to help, and I would love to have a volunteer base so we can become more community friendly,” she said.
