First officer in 10 years takes over running Salvation Army
Published Friday September 5th, 2008
The Savation Army has a new officer in Miramichi.
The area has not had an officer in 10 years.
Captain Denise Daigle is relocating from Timmons, Ontario where she served for several years putting together several programs like a Christmas toy drive. Prior to that she served in Montreal.
In her thick French accent she says she is excited to be in a new city but she is worried about being in a largely English city.
"It will be a challenge in Miramichi because my English is not so good," said Daigle. "I spent my first two weeks here to see what is going on in Miramichi. I really want to know the people that work here. I spent time meeting everyone."
The officer's function is to oversee the administrative process which is essentially overseeing the entire operation of the Salvation Army from volunteers to the store front.
"For sure we will continue what we are doing right now, but I also want to add the spiritual aspect because the goal of the Salvation Army is to add spirituality. To help people but add that element," Daigle said.
The church has not been present in Miramichi for over a decade, something she says is lacking, though she's not sure a new church is in the city's future just yet.
"It would be difficult to begin a church right away," she said. "I know they have a supper every Wednesday and Friday. I want to begin a bible study and see how that goes."
She said ordinarily the top of the chain is the officer who runs the church, called the corps officer. But without the church this role falls to her.
Debbie Churchill, the program director for the Salvation Army, has been running the operation at the Salvation Army without an officer for the last several years. It was her idea to apply for one.
"I deal with the social services aspect. I'm not Salvation Army, so that was missing," Churchill said of her non religious role at the office. "It is hard to wear all hats."
She also believes having a uniformed officer will be a visual benefit to the city.
"I'm not a uniformed officer, but seeing her walking down the street wearing her badge will let people know of our involvement in the community."
She also hopes having a person who knows all the rules and regulations of the Salvation Army will help them to be more effective.
"This is a really wonderful resource for the community and I look forward to learning from her."
During things like fires and natural disasters, she said she wasn't always sure what her role was.
In fact during a fire the M.O. of the Salvation Army is to go to the aid of the firefighters- bring them food, keep them cool.
"In Montreal and Timmons we had a van, " said Daigle. "We need an emergency truck to attend some of these things. And we don't have this truck. But we can help with food. We can help with clothes. We can help in other ways."
She says a van may be something to look into in the future, but for right now she wants to spend time getting to know exactly what the city needs- and that means meetig as many people as possible from the Salvation Army volunteers to the local businesses.
And first thing first is Christmas which is approaching fast for the Salvation Army. She hopes they will begin getting some programs under way shortly.
"We are here to help people. We need to work in partnership with them in the future and we need to figure out how best to work together," said Daigle.
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