LOOKING BACK

Stealing from the Sally Ann is nothing new for a charity celebrating its 130th year in Canada.

And the loss of $2 million worth of toys from a Toronto warehouse and disappearance of $240,000 in Sally Ann funds in Ottawa wouldn’t be its largest theft either.

In 2006, Ming Wa, a 25-year-old accountant, was sentenced to two years in prison for siphoning $2.3 million from the charity at its Toronto headquarters.

In 1990, a 10-month jury trial in Newfoundland sentenced George Rideout to 12 years in prison for scamming the Sally Ann, elderly women and a trucking company out of $3.6 million.

Founded on the streets of London by William and Catherine Booth in 1852, the Salvation Army arrived in Canada in 1882, just 15 years after Confederation.

Salvationists preached the gospel of “soup, soap and salvation” in their “citadel” churches across Canada.

The Salvation Army opened a Toronto halfway house called the Prison Gate Home in 1890. It was instrumental in creating Canada’s parole system through initiatives in 1901, and Canada’s first juvenile detention centre in Manitoba in 1911. The Salvation Army has become Canada’s largest non-governmental socialservice provider, helping 1.8 million people every year. It has evolved with the times, accepting credit cards at its kettle drive.

Jeff Green