Dowagiac’s Tim Douglas knows how hard it can be to ask for help.
While he living in Florida, and later South Haven, during the mid-1990s, Douglas was out of a job while trying to recover from a back injury. His situation left him without a permanent home. He also had a son to support.
Douglas recalled one evening when a church surprised the family during the holidays with Christmas gifts.
“It was not just the material need, but the emotional support,” Douglas said. “That was just one of the ways they filled the need without making you feel shame.”
Now, Douglas said he has been given the chance to advocate for an organizations that helps families like his own get back on their feet.
Last fall, Douglas was as coordinator of volunteer services at the Niles Salvation Army. His duties include recruiting volunteers, interviewing volunteers, setting schedules and managing the volunteer base, which includes approximately 146 people during the holidays and 45 core volunteers.
As the new coordinator, Douglas said he hopes to increase the number of volunteers. With only four paid staff members at the Niles Salvation Army, volunteers help the organization reach the more than 100 families a month.
The organization offers families a walk-in food pantry, rent, utility and disaster assistance, a free lunch program called the “Lunch Bunch,” and the back pack program, which supplies students with enough food to last through a weekend, to name just a few.
Perhaps the biggest hurdle in volunteer recruitment is getting people to commit their time. To tackle this problem, Douglas draws on past experience to get the job done.
Douglas has more than 20 years of management service under his belt, five of which were spent serving the nonprofit International Order of DeMolay in Indiana.
Before moving to Dowagiac, Douglas was a general manager for a bowling center in central Florida, where one of his main jobs was troubleshooting problems.
In his current role, Douglas works to get the word out about volunteers.
“In today’s world, everybody has something that they are busy doing,” Douglas said. “They have limited amount of time for family and for work.”
It does not take a huge time commitment to make a huge difference as a volunteer, Douglas said. Even an hour a month can be a huge helping hand for the organization, an international movement based in the Christian Church.
Douglas is no stranger to balancing multiple priorities.
Before he stepped into the role as coordinator of volunteers, Douglas was working a full-time job as a machine operator at Creative Foam in Dowagiac, working from 10:20 p.m. to 6:20 a.m. Still, he set aside time each day for three years to volunteer at the Salvation Army’s food pantry.
When he was hired on full-time at the Salvation Army as the coordinator of volunteers, Douglas spent a month working both full-time jobs to make the transition.
“It filled a void that I felt I had, and it gave me the opportunity to give back,” he said.
As he seeks to increase needed volunteer participants, Douglas said he first has to get the word out there. Since taking the role, Douglas has been speaking at schools, faith organizations and the retirement community.
“The opportunities are here,” Douglas said. “There are people wanting something to do and a [chance] to give back.”
Looking back on his past, Douglas said he sees the insight he has gained helping him to spur the message of the Salvation Army.
“Everything I have done in the past makes me who I am today,” Douglas said.
Since becoming coordinator, Douglas has seen the return of several volunteers and he hopes that as he continues to get the word out more people, increasing volunteer numbers.
Most importantly, Douglas said will be getting out there and sharing with the community the importance of the services the Salvation Army provides.
“ You cannot do it sitting behind a desk,” he said.