salvation army national young adult initiative september newsletter
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Read the latest developments for The Salvation Army National Young Adult initiative.TRANSCRIPT
Welcome to the inaugural edition of Pipeline, the official newsletter from the Salvation Army’s Young Adult Initiative (YAI) team.
The idea for this publication was conceived by our team member and advisor, Sally Harris, as a vehicle to periodically update the National Advisory Board and the broader Salvation Army around the country of our efforts to engage more youth and young
adults in the phenomenal work and mission of The Salvation Army.
This edition of Pipeline includes a summary of the YAI team’s principal areas of focus,
which are detailed below:
• Rock the Red Kettle (RTRK) and Post-Concert Volunteer Engagement
• Engaging Young Adults in Salvation Army Mission Trips
• TOMS “Style Your Sole” Event and Partnership Discussions
• NAOC Follow-up
• Engaging 21st Century Volunteers
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WELCOME TO THE PIPELINE
The Salvation Army and TOMS shoes are building a budding relationship that began
with their "Style Your Sole" event at Cowboys Stadium on April 5, 2011. Nearly 150
children from local Salvation Army corps in
Dallas attended the event on the Dallas
Cowboys' field. Each child was presented
their own new pair of TOMS to design and
decorate. The event took place took place
on TOMS' "One Day Without Shoes"
campaign day to raise awareness of those
around the world who spend their lives
without shoes. It also raises awareness of
TOMS one-for-one giving campaign. For
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TOMS SHOES & THE SALVATION ARMY
In April 2011, more than 80 young adult profes-
sionals from across the United States joined with
other delegates at NAOC 2011 in Orlando, FL.
More than fifty of those individuals were there on
scholarships provided by the National Advisory
Board. Each scholarship provided conference and
hotel registration. Divisional and Territorial sup-
port assisted with travel costs in most cases.
Four workshops were planned to engage this
group in dialogue concerning The Salvation Army
and their generation. They were introduced to
each other, officers and board members who are
actively seeking to change the way the Army
relates to the Millennial Generation. Workshops
included a brainstorming session, Jr. Advisory
Board development, Young Adult Initiatives and a
panel of current board members sharing their
history and experience.
At the conclusion of NAOC 2011, millennial dele-
gates returned home with a new sense of passion
for The Salvation Army’s mission and work in
their own community. In addition, they now real-
ize that there are others in communities across
the country just like them. Networking and infor-
mation sharing has continued since April. A new
level of excitement is reverberating throughout
The Salvation Army and in the communities
where we serve.
NAOC 2011 Just Imagine
National Young Adult Initiative
T he S a l v a t i o n A rmy
PipelinePipelinePipelinePipeline Autumn 2011
Young adults in the United States continued to volunteer at impressive rates in 2010.
According to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics approximately 22% of all
young adults between the ages of 16 – 34 volunteered in 2010 with a median average
of 40 hours of service per individual. This translates to a total of 697.4 million hours of
service with a value of $14.8 billion to organizations across the country. The Salvation
Army benefited in part from a portion of this giving of time.
The Young Adult Initiative (YAI) has found that The Salvation Army has a great appre-
ciation for the service that young adults can provide. Despite the lack of capacity to
adequately manage volunteers, local units from across the country have begun finding
ways of engaging young adults in fulfilling its mission. Examples of how young adults
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21st CENTURY VOLUNTEERS
MEET THE TEAM
Jason Howard NAB Member/Chair, YA Task Force
Sally Harris NAB Member/Advisor
Marcia Larson NAB Member (installed September 2011)
Meredith Counce Team Member/Liaison to NAB Chairperson
Pastor Miles McPherson NAB Member/Advisor
Diane Paddison NAB Member/Advisor
Captain Rob Reardon National Young Adult Initiative Coordinator
Captain Kyle Smith Western Territorial Representative
Joy Mikles Southern Territorial Representative
Rob Bonesteele Central Territorial Representative
Kelly Pope Eastern Territorial Representative
Oren MacMillan Administrative Support/NHQ
NAOC Scholarship Recipients participate in one of four
workshops designed specifically for young adult professionals.
2
September 2011 2 PipelinePipelinePipelinePipeline
One of the exciting strategies cur-
rently being developed is a project
aimed at recruiting young adult pro-
fessionals to participate in domestic
and global short-term missions ex-
periences. The goal of this strategy is
to introduce those who are not yet
associated with The Salvation Army
to its mission—globally and locally.
It has been reported that one of the
key factors in attracting young adults
to a cause is to expose them to
what’s being done around the world
related to that cause. Such a global
perspective will change their view of
how things are here at home, thus making the individual more aware of
the needs in his or her own community. We believe that offering mis-
sions experiences to a new group of young adults will forever impact
the way they view The Salvation Army in the United States and will
help us retain them as long-term volunteers and supporters in their
own communities.
The Young Adult Initiative will look to the expertise of missions special-
ists from within the US territories to assist in the development of this
missions strategy. Teams of young adults will be recruited from across
the United States and will be connected with local Salvation Army rep-
resentatives to maximize the local impact upon returning from the
mission field.
We are confident that this initiative will be instrumental in bringing
new people into the ranks of The Salvation Army as volunteers and
supporters.
WELCOME TO THE PIPELINE
We are excited about the opportunity to engage more youth and young
adults, and we thank The Salvation Army’s Commissioners’ Conference,
National Advisory Board and Territorial leadership for their consistent
and significant support of our outreach activities. As we move forward
on this important initiative, we welcome your comments, advice and
prayers. We’ll need them all. We are all truly honored to have the
opportunity to work on such an exciting and meaningful project.
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are being engaged include internships, seasonal opportunities, and
event based volunteering such as “I’ll Fight Day”.
There is a strong belief that these engagement opportunities are just
the beginning, and with deliberate planning there are many more
meaningful engagement opportunities that can strengthen the Army’s
connection to young adults. The primary way that the Young Adult
Initiative is promoting engagement of young adults is through Jr.
Boards. At NAOC, the YAI organized presentations of successful models
of Jr. Boards that are operating across the country. Additionally, schol-
arships were provided to young adults in Army advisory organizations
to attend NAOC in order to strengthen the integration of these young
adults into The Salvation Army. In order to ensure continued contact
with young adults, YAI has created social media outlets with relevant
and current communications. The YAI has also created a support docu-
ment to be included in the “Rock the Red Kettle” Campaign to assist
corps with ideas and resources to help engage young adults who attend
or stream the event.
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21st CENTURY VOLUNTEERS
MISSION ADVANCE
Rock the Red Kettle is an
exciting annual concert se-
ries which features estab-
lished music artists and aims
to introduce The Salvation
Army to a new generation of
volunteers, officers, soldiers,
advisory board members and
potential contributors. The
Salvation Army organized the
first Rock the Red Kettle concert in December 2010 in Los Angeles, CA.
Based on the success of the first concert, which was seen by more than
20,000 online and in person and which generated more than 8.8 million
media impressions, The Salvation Army is expanding the RTRK fran-
chise by organizing two Rock the Red Kettle concerts for 2011. Con-
certs are planned for the 2011 holiday season and are expected to be
held at Universal Studios in Orlando and Los Angeles.
As part of planning for the Rock the Red Kettle event, the YAI team has
been asked to coordinate with Salvation Army teams in Orlando and
Los Angeles to ensure that concert participants are connected with
volunteer engagement opportunities during and after the concert. We
have initiated active discussions on this important initiative and plan-
ning is underway to leverage the RTRK concert and introduce the con-
cert attendees to the extraordinary breadth and mission of The Salva-
tion Army.
ROCK THE RED KETTLE
every pair of shoes, whether donated or purchased, TOMS gives a pair
of shoes to a child in need.
Since the April 5th event, The Salvation Army and TOMS have been
working together to build other partnership opportunities. There has
been progress on potentially using Salvation Army International
locations as sites to utilize TOMS giving for the local children. Each child
from the chosen giving sites would receive a pair of shoes. These shoes
would help prevent disease as well as meet school dress code so that
child is able to attend school while meeting school uniform
requirements. TOMS unique continued giving style also allows for the
same children to receive a new pair of TOMS every 6 months.
Both organizations are excited about the potential of giving overseas
through The Salvation Army. Salvation Army officers and National
Advisory Board members alike are working with TOMS to forge a
relationship that will lead to the Army becoming a giving partner.
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Children sit in front of The Salvation Army shield on the field of Cowboys Stadium
during the “Style your Sole” event on April 5, 2011.
TOMS SHOES & THE SALVATION ARMY