Salvation Army volunteers honored

ZANESVILLE, Ohio- A dinner was held Thursday evening to honor those giving back to the community.

The Salvation Army recognized its volunteers at its Fifth Annual Banquet. Case manager Jennifer Bates said that the Salvation Army could not do what it does without their volunteers. She says the support from the community and the volunteers are what keep them running.

“We could not do what we do without the help of the volunteers,” said Bates. “Basically, a community Salvation Army is only as strong as the community members because we can only do what we do because of them.”
Bates said that while many of the volunteers do not ask to be thanked, it makes everyone feel good to be recognized. Along with acknowledging all those who give time to the Salvation Army, one “Volunteer of the Year” is selected.

“It’s hard to pick every year because there’s so many people and so many groups,” said Bates. “And each year the staff gets together and then we talk about well ‘who do you think it is?’ ‘who do you think it is?’ And then inevitably we’ll take a vote and the majority of us will be thinking of the individual or the same group.”

This year’s recipient, Bill Geen, recently retired from the Salvation Army but continues to organize the Red Kettle Campaign at Christmas every year and donate his time to the Salvation Army.