Easter at The Salvation Army

The city of Memphis blossomed with the beginning of spring, and so did the community’s generosity when it came to helping The Salvation Army celebrate Easter. This year, the children in The Salvation Army’s shelter programs such as Renewal Place and the Emergency Family Shelter had a special Easter thanks to numerous organizations and volunteers.

The children kicked off Easter by modeling new spring fashions, which were donated to the children by Church Women United, an ecumenical organization of women for women around the world. The local group is 200 women strong and has been contributing personal donations of clothing to the children in the Army’s shelter programs for the past five years. This year, more than 300 articles of clothing were donated, which The Salvation Army shared with the Memphis inner-city schools.

The children’s Easter extravaganza continued with a carnival hosted by CHOICES, an outreach program of Christ Community Health Services that promotes abstinence until marriage for teenagers within nine Memphis-city schools. Children moved from station to station as they participated in a variety of games and arts and crafts activities. High school students involved in CHOICES volunteered their Saturday morning to help the children dye Easter eggs, create finger paintings, hunt for Easter eggs and paint their faces.

On Saturday, April 3, the children participated in The Salvation Army’s community Easter egg hunt, which was held on the front lawn of the Fairview Middle School. This Easter egg hunt welcomed all children up to age 12 within the local community to hunt for more than 5,500 eggs. The warm weather, green grass and more than 150 children dressed in Easter attire got many local families in the Easter spirit.

There were squeals of delight and lots of hugs when employees of AT&T delivered huge Easter baskets to the children in the Renewal Place program. Each child received a beautifully wrapped basket that contained not only candy, but clothes, shoes, toys and other goodies. Kudos to the AT&T employees for their generosity.

Special thanks to Church Women United, CHOICES, AT&T and all the volunteers. Because of your generosity and dedication to our community, children in need were able to celebrate this special time of year.

Salvation Army and
Church Women United
Fashion Show

Easter Carnival
hosted by CHOICES

Salvation Army’s
community
Easter Egg Hunt

AT&T Easter Baskets for Renewal Place Children