Salvation Army

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - A Salvation Army worker was shot and killed Christmas Eve in front of his three young children by a man who attempted to rob him outside the charity’s community center in North Little Rock, a Salvation Army official said yesterday. North Little Rock police were looking for two men who accosted Salvation Army Major Philip Wise about 4 p.m. Thursday. No arrests have been made. Wise, 40, had gone to the center with his children to pick up his wife - also a Salvation Army major - to drive to his mother’s home in West Virginia, said Major Harvey Johnson, area commander...

Q.I have a question about a so-called fund-raiser for a school using GotBooks.com. Now I am hesitant to give my books to this fund-raiser and would like to know what you think about this outfit. In the past, I have donated to church flea markets, Goodwill, and the Salvation Army and have felt 100 percent comfortable. But this one bothers me. What do you think? A. The question you raise is a good one - not just regarding GotBooks.com, but the entire genre of outfits like it. First, let's be clear.

COLORADO SPRINGS - There could be less jingle in the Salvation’s Army’s hallmark red kettles this season. The charity is testing kettles that take debit and credit cards. The growth of so-called “plastic kettles’’ comes as fewer shoppers carry cash. Bell ringers who stand outside stores during the holiday season say that more and more shoppers are shaking their heads and smiling as they pass by, apologizing for not having spare change or cash. Last year, the Salvation Army tested the credit machines in Dallas and Colorado Springs.

An Independence Mall holiday shopping promotion contributed hundreds of dollars to local charities while doling out gift cards at random to lucky shoppers. During the local mall's Days of Giving promotion, from Thanksgiving to Christmas Eve, selected shoppers got the chance to draw a gift card from a bag. The cards, from Target, Sears, Macy's, or the Independence Mall, were valued from $25 to $500. As of last week more than $6,000 in cards had been given away. The mall made charitable contributions that matched all the gift card amounts drawn on Saturdays: $475 was donated to the Boys & Girls Club of...

A Midwestern retailer has changed its mind about a decision not to allow Salvation Army bell ringers to collect donations outside its stores. Mills Fleet Farm said Tuesday that the decision to give direct donations to local Salvation Army chapters instead of allowing bell ringers was "unfortunate. " The company said it thought the move would immediately benefit the Salvation Army in the 31 cities where Mills Fleet Farm has stores. The company now says, "We were wrong. " WAOW-TV in Wausau, Wis., first reported about the Brainerd, Minn.-based retailer's decision not to allow...

CHARLESTON, S.C. - The Salvation Army thought it had received a grand gift ahead of Christmas - a $25,000 check. But the donation turned out to be an expensive hoax that may force the charity to cut back on winter assistance for the needy. Investigators said yesterday that more than a dozen Charleston-area charities received fake checks before Christmas purporting to be gifts from a genuine local company None of the other charities cashed theirs, but the Salvation Army deposited its check.

The Boston Bruins Foundation and the Garden Neighborhood Charities donated $15,000 to the Salvation Army's Red Kettle campaign yesterday, following reports that donations to the annual campaign were down 22 percent this year. The Salvation Army hopes to double the amount through a challenge grant announced earlier. United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley also donated $30,000 to the Salvation Army this week. Through the donations, the Salvation Army expects to continue providing families with meals, coats, and toys to children this winter season.

AMSTERDAM -- Alida Bosshardt, who spent more than 50 years working for the Salvation Army and established a center in Amsterdam's Red Light District for prostitutes and drug addicts, died Monday, the Christian organization said. She was 94. Salvation Army spokeswoman Hella van der Schoot said Ms. Bosshardt died of old age. "She had heart troubles and kidney problems," she said. Ms. Bosshardt joined the Salvation Army in 1934 and was instructed to work with women in the city's Red Light District shortly after the end of World War II. She established a Goodwill center in...

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - University of Miami doctors working in Haiti are treating a man who, according to two other Haitians, had been trapped by debris since the Jan. 12 earthquake - but he may have been provided food and water during his reported ordeal. The two Haitians’ account could not be confirmed by doctors at a university field hospital or at a Salvation Army medical center in Port-au-Prince where the man, emaciated and suffering from dehydration, was first brought by the two men Monday.

Federal officials are urging people to be cautious when they donate money to charities responding to the earthquake and tsunami that devastated Japan. The FBI warns that con artists often prey on donors following natural disasters. The Internet Crime Complaint Center says donors should be careful when confronted with unsolicited e-mails asking for credit card information or money transfers. Consumers should try to verify the legitimacy of nonprofit organizations with an Internet search.

A New Hampshire Salvation Army organizer says she has no idea who dropped a set of wedding rings into a donation kettle in Goffstown. Debra Urella says she didn't know what she had when she emptied the kettle on Monday and found a gold band and diamond ring along with a handwritten note wishing them a merry Christmas. She calls the donation "very special. " Rick Parkhurst was ringing the bell for the kettle on Monday and he had no idea the rings had been deposited. He says the surprise donation brought tears to his eyes.

The Boston Bruins Foundation and the Garden Neighborhood Charities donated $15,000 to the Salvation Army's Red Kettle campaign yesterday, following reports that donations to the annual campaign were down 22 percent this year. The Salvation Army hopes to double the amount through a challenge grant announced earlier. United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley also donated $30,000 to the Salvation Army this week. Through the donations, the Salvation Army expects to continue providing families with meals, coats, and toys to children this winter season.

At grocery stores and public corners around the Commonwealth, fewer people are reaching into their pockets and giving to those festively dressed volunteers ringing the old, familiar bells of the Salvation Army. Five weeks into its annual Christmas red kettle drive, the Massachusetts division of The Salvation Army has collected less than $1.2 million, down 22 percent from last year and well short of the $3.4 million it collected in 2010, said Trish Raines, a regional spokeswoman for the charity.

A Midwestern retailer has changed its mind about a decision not to allow Salvation Army bell ringers to collect donations outside its stores. Mills Fleet Farm said Tuesday that the decision to give direct donations to local Salvation Army chapters instead of allowing bell ringers was "unfortunate. " The company said it thought the move would immediately benefit the Salvation Army in the 31 cities where Mills Fleet Farm has stores. The company now says, "We were wrong. " WAOW-TV in Wausau, Wis., first reported about the Brainerd, Minn.-based...

Some of the places in the region offering food and meals to those in need, plus those that are serving free Thanksgiving dinners: AMESBURY - Our Neighbors' Table at Main Street Congregational Church, 145 Main St. 978-835-3016; www.ourneighborstable.org. Food pantry open Saturdays 9:30 a.m.-noon. Dinners Wednesdays, 4-6 p.m. BEVERLY - Beverly Bootstraps Community Services Inc., 371 Cabot St. 978-927-1561, www.beverlybootstraps.org. Food pantry Mondays-Fridays, 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m., Tuesdays and Wednesdays 5-6 p.m. Registration hours (first-time users only)

Major William Bode, the controversial leader of the Massachusetts Salvation Army who abruptly severed the nonprofit’s 70-year relationship with United Way last summer, has been reassigned to a Salvation Army division in Pittsburgh. The Salvation Army confirmed the change yesterday. Bode will be replaced by Major David E. Kelly, now head of the Salvation Army’s Northern New England Division, based in Portland, Maine. Bode led the Massachusetts Division for the last 4 ½ years.

HAGERSTOWN, Md. - Ring-a-ling. Hear them ring? No? Then you must be at Valley Mall, where the Salvation Army was asked to mute its famous bells. Instead, they've replaced the brass clappers with large metal paper clips to appease merchants who complained the bell ringers were too loud. Instead of chiming brightly, these bells emit meek little clinks. "The mall suggested we put a paper clip or something lighter in there so it's not the constant clanging," said Major Robert Lyle, the local commander who ordered the switch.

An Independence Mall holiday shopping promotion contributed hundreds of dollars to local charities while doling out gift cards at random to lucky shoppers. During the local mall's Days of Giving promotion, from Thanksgiving to Christmas Eve, selected shoppers got the chance to draw a gift card from a bag. The cards, from Target, Sears, Macy's, or the Independence Mall, were valued from $25 to $500. As of last week more than $6,000 in cards had been given away. The mall made charitable contributions that matched all the gift card amounts drawn on Saturdays: $475 was donated to the Boys &...

Friends say a Connecticut couple completed a quest of visiting every state in the U.S. before they were killed crossing a road in Ohio. Longtime friends say Keith and Doreen Rodgers of Manchester, Conn., had just finished the last leg of their 50-state quest by visiting Indiana, Pennsylvania, Illinois and Ohio. The natives of England were killed Saturday when they were struck by a minivan in Liberty Township, Ohio. The driver whose vehicle struck them has not been charged; the incident remains under investigation.