How a Childhood Act of Kindness Inspired a Lifetime of Giving
*Victoria, founder of Victorious Women Ministries with toys donated to the Detroit Grandale Corps Community Center Toy Drive
Victoria was born and raised in the Jeffries Homes, also called the Jeffries Housing Projects, a public housing project located in Detroit near the Lodge Freeway. When she was 5 years old, her mother opened the pantry and there was no food. Victoria remembers her mom saying, “we have nothing.”
She packed up the kids and went out to find food. They walked down 14 flights of stairs (the elevator was broken), and then walked for miles to their local Salvation Army. A man answered the door, and her mother told him that they were hungry and had no food.
Victoria remembers that he went to the back and came back with a check for $50 and vouchers to ride the bus home. She said she can still see the color of the bus vouchers – they were yellow.
Victoria says that the generosity and caring they received that day planted a seed that later grew into Victorious Women Ministries, Victoria’s nonprofit organization which focuses on providing support to organizations which provide enrichment programs for women and children.
*Victoria with Detroit Grandale Corps Community Center officer Envoy Jackie Ellingson, and Auxiliary Captain Jamiah Lynn
Last week, volunteers and employees at the Detroit Grandale Corps Community Center were scratching their heads trying to figure out how to provide Christmas toys to more children than they had expected. And on that same day, the blessing from that day in 1955 continued to unfold: Victoria reached out to The Salvation Army to see if there were any kids still in need of Christmas gifts this year.
She arrived on Friday with a carload of gifts for girls ages 9-11 - over 160 gifts. When she shared her story with the team at the Detroit Grandale Corps Community Center she said
“That experience shaped my life and desire to make a difference for marginalized people. I was born in this community; and The Salvation Army significantly impacted my view of life and the difference that HOPE can make. On that day in 1955, I witnessed what HOPE could do for my family.”
If you’ve been inspired by Victoria’s story and would like to follow her example helping those in need, you can donate to The Salvation Army now. And thanks to The Consortium of Hope, all donations from now till New Years Eve will be doubled.