WORDS Tara Crutchfield
PHOTOGRAPH Amy Sexson
Each month, hundreds of local families visit the Social Services office and Food Pantry for The Salvation Army of East Polk County. The organization offers social services, including financial assistance with rent, food distribution, and operates a homeless shelter. We met with Diana Woodhead, Social Services Director for The Salvation Army Winter Haven Offices serving East Polk County, and Commanding Officer Captain Dominic Blanford to discuss what they do and how the community can help.
through Friday from 8 am to 4 pm, with exceptions for illness and inclement weather. “We can help the moms that have children of daycare age get daycare through the Early Learning Coalition. We work closely with The Hearth Project, which is part of the Polk County School Board that specifically caters to homeless families with children,” said Woodhead. The shelter’s caseworker, Dreamalee Lamberti, works closely with its tenets. Woodhead said of Lamberti, “She’s got a lot of knowledge that she can use to help the ladies. She has applied herself since she’s been here to working individually with every person we have in the shelter to put them on the right path and give direction.”
SOCIAL SERVICES AND HOMELESS SHELTER The organization works with several grants to provide this assistance, including the Tampa Electric Company Share program. The Salvation Army provides a food pantry for families in need. “Once a week, we provide food to families in our community. It can be anywhere from 50 to 100 families that come in a day depending on the time of month,” said Diana Woodhead.
THE ANGEL TREE PROGRAM AND RED KETTLE CAMPAIGN Corps Officers for Salvation Army of East Polk County, Captains Dominic and Ivelisse Blanford took leadership in Winter Haven last year. “My wife and I have both worked with the Salvation Army for over ten years now,” said Dominic Blanford. The two met at “Camp Keystone,” The Salvation Army’s Camp in Starke, Florida, and married in 2010. The Blanfords are both ordained ministers for The Salvation Army and pastor at its local church.
The organization stocks its food pantry with donations from many sources, like Feeding Tampa Bay, part of Feeding America, a nonprofit dedicated to ending hunger. Every week, The Salvation Army picks up meat close to its expiration date that has been frozen, produce nearing its sell-by date, and items with damaged packaging from Harveys Supermarket, Save A Lot, and ALDI Grocery Store.
With the help of longtime staff and volunteers, including social services director, Diana Woodhead who has been with The Salvation Army for over twenty years, Blanford said, “Our goal is to enlighten the community of what we do and what they can do to help support the cause.”
The faith-based food pantry receives leftover items from the Auburndale and Winter Haven Wawa through the Harvest Program. Last month they received nearly 4,000 items from donuts to breakfast sandwiches. Once a month, they pick up at least four pallets of damaged items from a Publix warehouse in Lakeland and receive milk, eggs, cheese, butter, and dry goods through The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP). Donated food is stored and sorted in their on-site warehouse and then shelved and packed by volunteers in a pantry across the hall to be picked up by families in need each Wednesday. In the kitchen, a cook prepares community meals every Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. “We feed anyone who comes – no questions asked. We just take a first name to log the meal,” said Woodhead.
In addition to the shelter, food pantry, and social services, The Salvation Army has a number of programs benefiting the underserved in our community. The Salvation Army Family Store is a volunteer-run thrift store where folks often donate second-hand clothes and household items. Blanford notes that all proceeds earned at The Family Store stay local, supporting their other programs. A popular program benefiting families who can’t afford Christmas gifts is the Angel Tree Program. “The Angel Tree Program has been in existence since the 80s,” Blanford said. “It gives individuals, families, organizations, and businesses the opportunity to adopt Angels.” According to saangeltree.org, “Once a child or senior adult has been registered and accepted as an Angel, their Christmas wish list is shared with donors in your community who purchase gifts of new clothing and toys. The gifts are distributed to the family to place under their family Christmas tree.”
The number of families in need fluctuates. In September, 287 cases or 1,013 people utilized their food pantry, shelter, and rent/ utility assistance services. That doesn’t include the weekly meals they serve, 473 in the same month. These numbers often swell around the holidays. The back of the facility houses their women and children’s shelter with dorms for single women, a handicapped-accessible dorm, and one for mothers with children. The shelter has a children’s playroom, dining hall, television area, bathrooms and showers, and a laundry room. The shelter is closed Monday
Distribution of gifts will be done at their administration and worship center on December 15 as a drive-through. ‘Angel’ families can drive up, and volunteers will load the gifts into their vehicles. - CONTINUED ON PAGE 25 -
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