Anna’s passion for community service led her to competing in the Miss Teen Volunteer America pageant while attending college. “I was always very community-service oriented,” she shares, highlighting her commitment to making a difference. 

Anna’s official platform is S.E.R.V.E., which stands for Scholarship, Education, Responsibility, Volunteerism, and Empowerment. She works with organizations like The Salvation Army and Feeding America and its food banks to help eliminate food insecurity. 

Anna’s primary platform is inspired by her grandfather, an immigrant from Latvia who settled in a small town in Mississippi. With nine siblings, her grandfather and his family had to start working at a very young age. This personal history fuels Anna’s mission. “It became my mission to show other people that it may not affect you, and it may never affect you, but it may have affected your grandparents, it may have affected your great-grandparents. When it is that personal to you, then that makes the mission even more personal,” she explains. 

Since her win as Miss Teen Volunteer America, she has partnered with The Salvation Army and other organizations. “When you work with The Salvation Army, it’s more so the attitude of, ‘I get to do this,’ and I have the privilege to do this,” she shares. “These people are doing it because they care so much, and they’re intentional about it.” 

Service work is central to Anna’s life. She began volunteering as a student and quickly realized the impact of her efforts. While visiting schools and talking to kids, she learned that some children rely on school for their only meals. This realization has driven her to continue her volunteer work with food insecurity and empower others to do the same. 

Community gardens are another project on the horizon for Anna. Inspired by the need for healthy food options, she envisions a place where people can access fresh vegetables and fruits. “I wanted there to be a place to go and get vegetables, to get fresh fruit, to get fresh items rather than just things that are on shelves,” she says. Anna is determined to build strategies and business plans to make these gardens a common reality in both rural and urban areas.  

Anna’s story is a testament to the power of service and the impact one individual can have on their community. Her dedication continues to inspire and make a difference. 

Did You Know? 

Did you know that The Salvation Army Orange County Anaheim Emergency Shelter is one of the few low-barrier homeless shelters that welcomes pets? 

This past June, the shelter in Anaheim hosted a Pet Parade that featured some of the resident pets and their owners. 

Named the “Hospitality House,” the Salvation Army shelter partners with the city of Anaheim to provide vital support and resources to help alleviate homelessness in Orange County. With 325 beds, the pet-friendly shelter provides services for men and women,  including housing, recovery, and employment navigators. The case managers work with the residents to provide them with tools  to help transform lives. 

Echelon Member Spotlight: Deric Poldberg

Deric heard about Echelon through work at the American National Bank. The bank owners, John and Wende Kotouc, are longstanding supporters of The Salvation Army’s mission. The bank’s headquarters host Omaha’s “Tree of Lights Campaign” kickoff. This provided Deric with a direct view of the community’s generous spirit as leaders and organizations unite in support of those in need. That is where his journey with Echelon and The Salvation Army began. 

Deric is proud of the Omaha chapter’s inaugural year accomplishments. They successfully orchestrated a full calendar year of social, service and fundraising events. Deric said, “It is always tough to build something from nothing, but the Army, national Echelon leadership, and our members did a fantastic job of collaborating and bringing year one to life.” 

Among recent achievements, Deric emphasizes the success of the “Get to Know Echelon” social at Top Golf, which attracted over 15 prospective new members. “Our current members continue to be our chapter’s biggest champions,” Deric said. “And it shows through our continued growth and engagement at each subsequent event.”

Looking ahead, Deric is particularly enthusiastic about expanding youth outreach through sports camps at Salvation Army facilities. The chapter found early success hosting a youth basketball camp at the Omaha North Corps campus. According to Deric, the chapter is “looking to parlay that model into a youth soccer camp at our Kroc Center later this summer. Both events should continue to grow and become staples for our chapter and the Army for years to come.”

“Downtime” Shines On

Earlier this year at a Youth Councils in Texas, a group of young adults in the Texas Division made their debut with their song, “Dreamer.” In their debut, they came together to form the band “Downtime.” 

The band consists of Jessa, Cendall and Rebecca, who all attend The Salvation Army as their church. “We first started Downtime because Ghodard saw something in us,” said Jessa. Ghodard Diavangama is the Assistant Divisional Music & Arts Director in the Texas Division. “We showed him a song that we made during our camp’s downtime, which is like a chill time that we have during camp.” 

After writing their first song, “All I Want,” they started working on “Dreamer.” They immediately started working on the music video. “We decided to have a day out, like in downtown Dallas, to make it very engaging,” Cendall said. “We wanted to make it a visual experience as well as us spending time together and having fun together,” Jessa said. 

The group is planning to release an album and more music videos. “We’re really looking forward to releasing that and getting people to hear our music.” 

To watch “Dreamer,” visit bit.ly/sal-army-dreamer. 

Salvation Army Gamers Assemble

This past June, video gamers assembled at the Duluth, Minnesota corps for fellowship, a devotional and to play video games. 

Captain Ross Anderson, the divisional youth secretary in the Northern Division, organized Salvation Army Gamers Assemble (SAGA) events to bring together teens and young adults—Salvationists and non-Salvationists—to meet and bond over a shared activity: video games. 

“Kids are using these virtual platforms to make friendships. We try to reach that community and bring it into a corps environment,” Captain Ross Anderson said. 

To read this story in Central Connection, visit bit.ly/salarmy-gamers.