Salvation Army Chaplains To Provide Meals For MPD Officers
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Salvation Army Chaplains To Provide Meals For MPD Officers
Chaplaincy Program celebrates 5 year anniversary
MILWAUKEE – In honor of National Police Week and the five year anniversary of The Salvation Army of Milwaukee County’s Chaplaincy Program, Salvation Army chaplains and leadership will be providing lunch to-go bags to the Milwaukee Police Department.
About 1,000 lunches will be dropped off at Districts 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 on May 12, 13, 14 and 15.
The Chaplaincy Program is a partnership between The Salvation Army of Milwaukee County and the Milwaukee Police Department. The chaplains are called to critical incidents when police determine emotional and spiritual care is needed, including fatal accidents, house fires, homicides, drug overdoses, and suicides.
“This is our way of saying 'thank you' to the officers for their hard work, service, and sacrifice in the community. We couldn’t do what we have done the last five years in the city, caring for victims of trauma and violence, without the great partnership with the police department,” said Pastor Alexis Twito, Chaplain Coordinator. “It really is something to celebrate!”
Since May 2015 to now, Salvation Army Chaplains have:
- Responded to 375 emergency call-outs with the Milwaukee Police Department.
- Of those 375 calls, 104 of them were homicides, 43 were infant deaths, and 36 were suicides.
- Have made 3,053 emotional and spiritual care contacts to individuals (since 2018, when we started collecting this statistic).
- Notably, our chaplains were present to support the police and community after the Sherman Park unrest in 2016, and in 2019 at Moody Park. Chaplains also provided police-officer support after multiple line-of-duty deaths of MPD officers in 2018 and 2019. And they were present on-scene and in the aftermath of the MillerCoors mass shooting to provide crisis care and resources to employees.
- Trained 133 people, and they currently have 55 active chaplains from diverse racial, ethnic, and religious backgrounds.
- Established The Salvation Army Chaplain Support Line, 888-651-7294 (SAWI), which is available from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. every day.
- Put in more than 10,000 volunteer hours since 2015.
About The Salvation Army
The Salvation Army, an evangelical part of the universal Christian church, has been supporting those in need in His name without discrimination since 1865. Nearly 33 million Americans receive assistance from The Salvation Army each year through the broadest array of social services that range from providing food for the hungry, relief for disaster victims, assistance for the disabled, outreach to the elderly and ill, clothing and shelter to the homeless and opportunities for underprivileged children. The Salvation Army tracks the level of need across the country with the Human Needs Index (Human NeedsIndex.org). Locally, 87 cents of every dollar raised is used to support programs and services in Milwaukee County.