Red-kettle season begins with record luncheon
If there’s one luncheon that can inspire Houstonians to feel the holiday spirit, it’s the Salvation Army’s annual gathering at the River Oaks Country Club.
The 23rd annual soiree did just that. More than 400 guests helped celebrate the nonprofit organization’s 130-year history of “Doing the most good.”
As always, the Salvation Army’s signature red kettles set the tone. Several longtime attendees and volunteers dressed to match; a number of crimson dresses, scarves and handbags dotted the club’s ballroom.
To kick things off, Salvation Army client manager
Yolanda Brown belted out a stirring rendition of the national anthem. Later, emcee and “Great Day Houston” host Deborah Duncan introduced advisory board chair Ann Bookout, who in turn introduced the event’s honored guests, Lilly and Thurmon Andress.
“If you don’t know Thurmon, please raise your hand,” Bookout told the crowd. A few shy fingers wiggled in the audience. “Oh, he’ll find you before today’s done,” she vowed.
Lilly joined the Salvation Army’s advisory board in 2002. She later founded the Greater Houston Area Command’s auxiliary board, too.
“I’m going to go off-script here and make a sports analogy,” Thurmon said from the podium. “If volunteering is football, my wife is the quarterback.”
As a thank-you, the Andresses received a personalized Bible. Lilly dabbed her eyes onstage as onlookers rose to applaud the well-deserving couple.
While lunch was served, a video shared Mejean
Cline’s story. During a period of hardship, the mother of young children sought refuge at the Salvation Army’s Family Residence on McGowen. There, she received financial tools and training, which later helped her break the cycle of situational poverty, complete her education and gain employment with NASA.
Afterward, Grammy Award-winning producer
Billy Dorsey detailed his own brush with homelessness in Houston following a record deal gone bad. This holiday season, he’s paying it forward and donating all of the proceeds from his upcoming album “The Safest Place” — which includes five songs based on the experiences of five families who’ve received assistance from the Salvation Army — to the organization’s mission to meet human needs without discrimination. Having already sampled some of the music, Duncan sang a few lyrics from one track aloud.
The impromptu moment, coupled with Terry Looper’s candid Q&A to discuss his book “Sacred Pace,” likely helped chairs Holly and Tom Forney raise a record $830,000 — an ideal and inspiring opener to red-kettle season.