With pluck and energy, Salvation Army marches on

The Salvation Army in Santa Fe isn’t really an army. It’s not a brigade, company or platoon, either. Right now, it’s just a few staff members, abetted by volunteers.

But sometimes, with the right kind of push, the caissons keep rolling along.

“It’s a rewarding feeling, knowing you’re making a difference,” says Lt. Ismael Gutierrez, who heads the local Salvation Army outpost. “For us, it [community service] is second nature.”

If the Salvation Army rings a bell in your head around this time, it’s probably because you are walking by the coin-catching kettles and accompanying volunteers who are prime candidates for tennis elbow as they create a little noise in front of stores. But in recent weeks, the army has been critical to some feel-good projects around the state, including a gigantic effort to feed youngsters at Acoma Pueblo, where a three weeks-plus outage in its water source has created havoc.

Gutierrez, who’s been in Santa Fe only four months, says the Salvation Army, a Christian ministry, has helped organize a huge feed for the pueblo’s kids, about 270 of them, for weeks. To make that happen, the organization did a “mass shopping” and sent a truck full of pallets carrying food. It’s also been asked to put together a community lunch before Thanksgiving, in addition to providing food boxes for seniors earlier this month.

“It’s been good help,” says Craig Cottrell, the emergency management manger for the pueblo.

The lack of water, particularly in Western New Mexico, is not merely an inconvenience. It’s been a full-blown crisis, with “a three-day event turning into kicking the can a week down the road” and beyond, Cottrell says.

Spoiler alert: The emergency finally is near its end, with needed equipment to repair the pueblo’s water system finally online. But through it all was the bridge of people from throughout the area offering a needed hand. The state of New Mexico sent water. So did the Albuquerque/Bernalillo County Water Authority. Then there was groups like the Salvation Army.

Gutierrez, who lived in Orange County, Calif., before being assigned by the Salvation Army to Santa Fe, can tell you about it. He came to a unit that he says had been “dormant” in recent times, determined to liven things up. The organization, he notes, can’t just be about the bell ringers at Christmastime.

“That’s the perception we want to change,” he says. “We want to be there besides Christmas. We run homeless feeding [programs]; homeless showers. It does take time, but we’re willing to take the time and effort, for someone in the community to step in and fill the need.”

One of the army’s volunteers, Santa Fe businessman Jairo Garcia, says Gutierrez’s energy put a jolt into the congregation at the Salvation Army.

“He’s knocking on doors, and people are willing to volunteer,” says Garcia, who installs granite countertops.

When the Acoma emergency arose, Gutierrez, 39, didn’t knock on doors so much as dial phones. The one that went to Garcia came as he was watching his son’s soccer game.

“Once that was over, we went to the church and tried to help as much as we could,” Garcia recalls.

The effort to pack the food boxes lasted late into the evening, and the next day two volunteers drove the food to Acoma.

“It’s been a blessing, having him here,” Garcia says.

Gutierrez and his wife, Verenice Gutierrez, brought their three sons, ages 6, 12 and 16, with them when they got the Santa Fe assignment. It was a whole new world; far away from the Mona Lisas and mad hatters of Southern California. “More calm, more slow-paced,” he says before noting Santa Fe does not have beaches and Disneyland nearby.

Still, it’s been a good change. He’d worked as a layperson with the Salvation Army before deciding to go into the ministry. And though there are many differences, of course, the Salvation Army is like the military in this way: You go where the brass points. That meant New Mexico.

“It’s worked out well,” Gutierrez says. “I like to be very involved in my community … we’ve been reaching out to the city doing things with other partners, in this four months. We’ve been pretty busy, and we want to be successful.”

Phill Casaus is editor of The New Mexican.