Villalobos-Russell: Stepping up when emergencies happen
At 6:45 a.m. on Aug. 20, I received a call from Dan Smith alerting me to a new Derby Fire conflagration. The Salvation Army’s emergency response canteen vehicle needed to deploy.
Our center has a four-wheel-drive kitchen that looks like a food truck. Maybe you’ve seen The Salvation Army’s iconic red shield gracing its sides. Dan is not only on The Salvation’s Army Vail Advisory Board with John Reichert, but both men oversee the operation of our canteen during emergencies.
They, along with other volunteers, were ready to deploy that day and every day.
When The Salvation Army in Vail receives a call from first responders requesting the canteen at an emergency response site, thanks to Dan and John, the truck quickly reaches the scene. Its mission: to prepare food for first responders and our neighbors who have been evacuated. The Salvation Army canteen remains at an emergency site for as long as its services are needed.
The Salvation Army works alongside Eagle County first responders and the American Red Cross during these collaborative responses. Because of our area’s dry summertime weather, everyone living in our region needs to be more alert to fires from April through October. However, The Salvation Army’s canteen is on call every day.
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The Derby Fire is 90 percent contained, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. Our county is blessed to have both first responders and volunteers responding quickly during the fire season.
Not every Salvation Army center has a canteen, so Dan and John deploy the canteen crew to assist nearby counties during their times of need.
The Intermountain Emergency Disaster Services team, based in Denver, helps coordinate the response and recovery efforts of centers such as ours, sometimes deploying Salvation Army personnel, additional canteens and other resources to support an emergency disaster response. My colleagues on this EDS team support our Vail center with training, equipment and supplies.
I’d like to thank Dan, John, all our canteen volunteers and my colleagues on the Intermountain EDS team for their dedication and commitment during these emergencies.
Another harvest season comes to a close
At the end of September, The Salvation Army Vail Center finished harvesting the produce generated by this year’s garden and greenhouse program. We are deeply grateful to the Knapp Ranch family, who offer us the use of their land and greenhouse for our 2025 operations.
Located at an elevation of 9,000 feet, we knew that seeding, planting and growing would pose new challenges. This new endeavor required the hands of dozens of volunteers from throughout the community to yield fruitful results. Some numbers: We grew 600 pounds of produce, including tomatoes, potatoes, zucchinis, squash, herbs, cucumber, bok choy, jalapeño peppers, salad greens and basil. We also grew 32 large pumpkins. Our biggest harvest day was Sept. 30, when we were blessed to have the volunteering hands of students from the Vail Christian School digging and collecting the last vegetables from the earth, washing carrots and salad greens, cleaning potatoes, and clearing the land.
Many of our vegetables and herbs were grown from seeds planted in March and April by children at Rumpel Ridge Preschool, Vail Church, and students from the CLIMB program of Eagle County School District, Eagle County Charter Academy, as well as others.
Every collection day, we bring the harvested produce to our food pantry, where clients take what they need to feed their families fresh and healthy food. The fresh vegetables leave our facility like hotcakes. We are so thankful that this year’s harvest yielded plenty of food for people in need, and God willing, our labor will continue for many more years.
I end this with a big shoutout to Scott Romsa from Grounded Produce, who donated more than 1,000 pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables this summer. The Salvation Army’s food pantry sends out mass text messages to our clients to let them know when we have fresh produce available. We also have wonderful weekly volunteers who choose to take excess vegetables to locations around the area where some of our clients live. Nothing is wasted at our center.
Galatians 6:9 says: “And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. “
The Salvation Army awaits its new home
We continue to look for a permanent location for our offices and food pantry in Eagle County. We seek about 1.5 acres to house our three programs: the garden and greenhouse, the food pantry, and the emergency relief offices. Ideally, we’d also have room for up to 50 community garden plots. If you have any ideas or suggestions, please leave a message for me at (970) 748-0704, ext. 101.
Monica Villalobos-Russell is the director of the Vail Valley Salvation Army. Email her at monica.villalobos@usw.salvationarmy.org.
