Presented to the Alberni Valley Community at Italian Hall, 16 November 2024, on the occasion of the presentation of the King Charles III Coronation Medal and The Salvation Army Alberni Valley Ministries 'Hope in the Valley' Gala to Launch the Christmas Season, in the presence of the MP, MLA, Chief Councilor of Tseshaht First Nation and Chief Councilor of Hupacasath First Nations and other gathered guest, by Major Michael Ramsay
Two very important things to do before we start today are: to honour the Nations who’s traditional and un-ceded territories we are meeting on and to honour the Creator.
Many of you who know me here, know that this is a very important
picture to me. It is a poster of a Roy Henry Vickers painting entitled’ Easter
1985’. A few years ago, Remi and Ruby Tom presented it to me with the words
Haatapi Hawit (Creator) written underneath.
It is on the door of my office for everyone to see and whenever
my door is open and I lift up my eyes from my desk there is an image of Haatapi
Hawit (Creator) in front of me.
It is the Creator that we serve in everything we do.
With that in mind, let us pray:
Haatapi Hawit (Creator). Lord, thank you. We know that you have
provided everything that there is in the world and you have tasked us to take
care of your creation and all of your creatures. Thank you for all the people
present here who have been faithful in that regard. Lord,
we thank you for the opportunity to serve one another. Amen.
I would now like to honour the Tseshaht and Hupacasath First
Nations and the Nuu-chah-nulth people for welcoming us and allowing us to work
alongside you and in these your traditional and un-ceded territories.
I have such a deep respect for both of you Brandy and Ken
personally, your councils, your families, your teams and all that you do - not for
only members of your nations but for so many others in the Valley here. I would
also be remiss if I didn’t mention your father Ken, George Watts; for George
was a good close and personal friend to my father-in-law and Susan’s family.
Thank you so much Ken, Brandy, Tseshaht and Hupacasath for all
that you do and for welcoming us and allowing us at The Salvation Army to work alongside you in these
your traditional and un-ceded territories.
Major Michael was presented the King Charles III Coronation Medal for making significant contributions to the community specifically relating to bringing community groups together for a common purpose.
Major Michael Ramsay's written comments:
Thank you
so much for this recognition of the work that has been done through the people working
with and alongside the Salvation Army. It is a real privilege for us to be
honoured alongside other people and organizations in our community that do so
much such as
·
Marlene Dietrich of Abbey
Field
·
Grace George
·
Jeanette Watts
·
Cyndi Stevens &
Friendship Center
·
David Wiwchar and the Toy
Run
In the
Salvation Army we have a salute to recognize that all good that is done is
really done by the Creator through us. – SALUTE. Thank you
The Salvation Army and all that we do here is a team sport. I
was thinking what are some of the ways that we are like various sports teams? –
and immediately it came to me that there is one way that The Salvation Army is NOT like a sports team. We are not like a baseball team… there is no crying in
baseball.
There are lots of tears in The Salvation Army. There is not a
week that goes by without staff, volunteers, soldiers, congregants, and / or community
members crying. And there is a lot to cry about.
Jennifer Osbourne, one of our friends at the Bread of Life Centre, has made this
wonderful graphic of a tree. The leaves on that tree
each have the name of one of our friends there who has passed due to addiction.
The tree has way too many leaves. The tree has new leaves way too often.
There are lots of tears at The Salvation Army. We have been
touched by more than one suicide since we chatted at the Christmas Kick-off
last year.
· We have lost many friends from overdoses.
· We have lost friends through violence.
· We had one friend recently die from burns.
· We have seen many friends slip back into addiction.
· We have seen friends experience homelessness – for the very first
time this year.
We have seen more seniors than ever before needing to eat at the
soup kitchen and get their groceries from the food bank – for the first time
ever.
There are lots of tears of sadness at The Salvation Army.
Romans 12:15: says, weep with those who weep; rejoice with those
who rejoice
And there are also tears of rejoicing at TSA
There are lots of success stories we hear and celebrate with our
team.
People have already thanked me saying that they wouldn’t have a
Christmas without The Salvation Army. This brings tears to my eyes.
This year we were able to provide food hampers to more than 1500
people – on top of the 1200 people we helped with Christmas hampers last year.
And we expect even more this year.
In 2024, you, through your support have provided more than 112,500
warm meals through the Bread of Life kitchen
In 2024, you, through your support have provided a safe place
for 2000 people to sleep plus another almost 500 more during extreme weather
And - this brings real tears of joy to me too – as well as
providing a safe place for folks experiencing homelessness and housing
insecurity – ten of the people who stayed with us this year, we were able to
help find stable permanent housing.
We are also so thankful to partner with the Friendship Center to
provide meals for their guests at the Tiny Homes Village and the Shelter. There
we have provided more than 90 000 meals for our friends.
We are so grateful also to all the organisations that partner
with us on the Salvation Army food truck. Elim Tabernacle (Bruce, Belle, and
team) has been partnering with us on The Salvation Army food truck on Mondays for many years
now, as has Khalsa Aid (Kim, Raghbir and team) on Tuesdays. They also recently
provided some much-needed bedding for our shelter. Kinsmen (Barb and Steve) take meals out on
the food truck every Wednesday, and Arrowsmith Rotary has been serving people
in need on Thursdays for a very long time now as well. With the support of
these groups, we have served more than 7000 meals to people in need this year.
You, through all your support, have also provided so much clothing to those in real need this year.
In 2024, you through your support, have helped so many children
as well. You sent 33 kids to camp who wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford to
go to camp – Some for the very first time.
You, through your support, have also provided 144 children with
backpacks full of school supplies so that on the first day of school they have
new items to help them learn – just like their friends.
You, through your support, have also provided 1152 litres of
milk for children and families in need.
You, through your support, have also provided 1120 lunches for
children who eat at the schools during the school year but don’t have access to
those meals during the summer.
All of you in this room, in some way, have contributed to this and so much more. This really does bring tears of joy to my eyes; so, while there may be no tears in baseball, the love and work all of you provide for those in need in our community really does bring tears to my eyes. Well done team!
I am now going to speak a blessing over us. This blessing is from Matthew 25:34-40:
34 “Then the [Lord]
will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take
your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the
world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me
something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a
stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes
and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in
prison and you came to visit me.’
37 “Then the
righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or
thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When
did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe
you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and
go to visit you?’
40 “The [Lord] will
reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these
brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
My friends this is your blessing; for this is who you are,
in all you do.
Thank you.
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