By Stephanie Forth

Stephanie.forth@leaderpub.com

The Salvation Army, in partnership with United Way of Southwest Michigan, is seeking volunteers to help make property improvements to the Salvation Army’s headquarters in Niles.

Corps Improvement Day, which is scheduled to take place on Saturday, Aug. 19 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., is open to anyone wishing to volunteer. For the event, volunteers will be making repairs and painting parts of the building.

“There was a tornado that hit earlier this year that did some damage to the place,” said Tim Douglas, who is the volunteer coordinator for the Salvation Army of Niles. “We actually got lucky because the insurance company covered most of it.”

This year is the first year that the Salvation Army is coordinating and performing most of the work instead of getting most of the help from United Way. Douglas said that they would not get to repair the entire building, but there are three major projects he plans to have volunteers work on.

Douglas plans to have the handicap ramp repaired and painted; it was damaged by the tornado that hit in March. The dining room floors will be stripped and replaced and all of the doors will be repainted.

Kendra and Joseph Hixenbaugh, who are the new corps officers for the Salvation Amy and will be overseeing the project, are expecting more volunteers this year than in years past. There are an estimated 15 to 20 volunteers to participate for this year’s Corps Improvement Day.

“For the past four years there has been about seven to 10 [volunteers],” Douglas said.

The Salvation Army and United Way are also partners for other philanthropic events in the area. Starting the first week in October, the organizations will offer a program for students who are in-need of proper nutrition by providing meals for the weekend in red backpacks. The program is called “Feeding his Sheep” and will also be open to public volunteers and accepts donations.