Holiday help: To give and receive
If there’s one silver lining to the NHL lockout, it’s this: Minnesota Wild staffers and their spouses are using their downtime to help The Salvation Army.
Tanya Yeo (pictured, right) and Shar Sydor (left), for example, have been spending four hours per week answering phones at The Salvation Army’s headquarters in Roseville, helping families in need register for Christmas assistance. They’re the wives of Minnesota Wild head coach Mike Yeo and Wild assistant coach Daryl Sydor, respectively.
The Wild’s efforts are but a sampling of all the good things volunteers are doing to help The Salvation Army across Minnesota and North Dakota this holiday season. During the next five weeks, The Salvation Army will distribute thousands of toys, serve thousands of meals and touch thousands of lives, from Rochester, Minn., to Minot, N.D.
You can be a part of this – no matter if you want to help or you need the help.
If you need food, Christmas toys for your children or information about other assistance, contact your local Salvation Army in the Twin Cities, Greater Minnesota or North Dakota.
To learn more about volunteering, donating toys, giving money or other ways of lifting up your neighbors in need, contact your local Salvation Army in the Twin Cities, Greater Minnesota or North Dakota.
In the Twin Cities, our most pressing volunteer needs include Toy Shop registration, breakfast server/lunch bagger and bell ringers.
“A hearty thank you to all the wonderful people, businesses and organizations that have been helping us this holiday season,” said Lt. Col. Daniel Sjögren, Salvation Army Northern Division Commander. “With five weeks until Christmas, this is only the beginning.”
The Minnesota Wild volunteers will tell you, all you need is a little time and giving spirit.
“At first we were nervous, but now we’re pros,” Char said. “For someone who wants to do something to help, (answering phones) is fun and easy. It’s an enjoyable thing.”
Heartwarming, too.
“I had a 13-year-old girl call to translate for her Spanish-speaking family – she was such a sweetheart,” Tanya said. “After we hung up, the phone rang and it was her again. She was calling to translate for another family.”
Additional volunteer help has come from more than a dozen of the Wild’s office staff. They’ve given about 80 hours of time sorting toy donations, assembling new red kettles, answering phones and winterizing our St. Paul operation center near Xcel Energy Center.