Soldiers of compassion: A Good Cause

According to a recently released Statistics Canada study, individual Canadians donate an average of just $400 to charity per year, an unconscionably low sum for a nation as wealth as this.

The rate of volunteerism is also surprisingly small. In order to spur a more philanthropic outlook, the National Post is highlighting Canadian charities that are deserving of our readers' donations or volunteer time. In today's instalment we profile The Salvation Army.

When Canadians think of The Salvation Army, they often picture men and women who, each Christmas, ring sleigh bells and collect spare change and bills for the Christian charity from generous passers-by. The organization is probably best known to Canadians for the direct social services work it performs at home, providing food and shelter for the hungry and the homeless; offering rehab for alcoholics; running shelters for battered women and children; stepping in with relief for areas hit by natural disasters.

However, The Salvation Army is also deeply involved in vital international efforts, working in 111 different countries across the world. For example, its team in drought-ravaged Kenya is currently trucking water to the areas of the country that have been hardest hit by the lack of rain. And in Pakistan, a Salvation Army team is doing what it can to help the country recover from last October's earthquake, including building a new school to replace an emergency tented facility that puts children at the mercy of the elements.

A movement first founded in 1885 by Methodist minister William Booth, The Salvation Army has grown into one of the world's largest and most important providers of social aid, mobilizing more than 4-million volunteers to help tens of millions of people each year. It is not only at Christmas, but all year long, that we should consider giving to The Salvation Army, an organization that has become synonymous with good works.

Reprinted with permission from the National Post, July 15, 2006