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From humble beginnings on the streets of London in 1852, William Booth and his wife, Catherine, cofounded the organization we know today as the Salvation Army.

Wanting to win the lost multitudes of England to Christ, Booth took to the streets preaching the Gospel to the poor, the homeless, the hungry and the destitute. Beginning in a tent in a Quaker graveyard, Booth's services became an instant success and quickly spread throughout London where he gathered followers who also were dedicated to fighting for the souls of men and women.

By 1874 the number of full-time volunteers had grown from 10 to 1,000, with 42 evangelists, serving together under the name "The Christian Mission." Soon they became known as the "Hallelujah Army," spreading the word out of the East End of London into neighboring areas and then to other cities. In 1878 the volunteer army became known as the Salvation Army and got its beginnings in America in 1879.

Tehachapi's own branch of the Salvation Army carries on with gusto and dedicated volunteers led by Marget Willer, director, and her "right hand person", Michal Knowles, coordinator.

Here to serve the Tehachapi Community, the Salvation Army works tirelessly to assist those needing a helping hand.

"Our social services are available Monday through Friday from 9 to 11 a.m.," explained Marget. "Our community center is open from noon to 6 p.m. In addition to the once a month Commodities program and the twice a month Senior Sack programs, our Fresh Rescue food program is available every week day, except Wednesdays, for those who need a hand up with food." You must qualify for these programs, Marget explained, and the requirement guidelines are posted for all to see.

Utility assistance is another big need within the Tehachapi community. Each week on Wednesday Marget and her staff are available to help with Edison, PG&E and the Gas Company bills. "Each year our utility assistance budget runs between $30,000 and $40,000."

In addition to food and utility programs, the Salvation Army has some "pet" projects throughout the year.

The back-to-school program assisted 420 students this year. "Clothing, backpacks, haircuts and new shoes get the students off to a good start," shared Marget. "While some items are donated, we get sponsors who contribute money for new shoes and the youngsters are given vouchers to take to Kmart to select their shoes themselves."

"We started our after-school program this year as well," Marget said. "Students in the fifth grade through seniors in high school can come in after school – and home-schooled kids are welcome, too. Right now we have about 30 students taking part. We offer free art and guitar classes, in addition to ping pong tables, six laptop computers and four iPads. We do have printers available, if a student needs to print out homework. We have USB thumb drives available if a student needs to take their homework home to finish up. Registration is required to keep parents in the loop on after school activities."

"All of our volunteers go through extensive background checks," Marget said. "In addition, there's a child safety class they must attend. Making sure everyone is cleared to work with or around children is very important in today's society."

As you can imagine, the holidays present a huge need for assistance. "We served 330 families last Thanksgiving, and 440 families at Christmas. In addition, we had about 800 kids on the Christmas tree. Parents are asked to list what a child wants and what a child needs – which aren't always the same thing," she laughed. "Parents might want shoes but the youngster wants something else, so we incorporated the two."

Mary Clyde

Marget Willer, director at the local Salvation Army, checks out items in the pantry. Partnering with our local Albertsons, the Fresh Rescue food program is available to those in need every week day except Wednesdays.

Bell-ringers are an important part of the Salvation Army holiday season. "We are blessed with about $20,000 from our bell-ringing stations," she smiled. "And since we spend over $16,000 for the holidays, it's an important part of our program. We normally need more than 100 bell-ringers for the season. It's our biggest local fund raising event."

If you would like to help the Tehachapi community by gathering new or gently used clothing, toys, videos, games, etc., please consider putting the Salvation Army on your donation list this year. It is a 501(c)3 organization, so your contributions are tax deductible.

Remember, a man may be down but he's never out when the Salvation Army is around!

For more information on their programs or to find out about volunteering or what special needs our local Salvation Army may have, please give Marget a call at

(661) 823-9508.