Welcome to the inaugural edition of Pipeline, the official newsletter from the Salvation Army’s Young Adult Initiative (YAI) team.

The idea for this publication was conceived by our team member and advisor, Sally Harris, as a vehicle to periodically update the National Advisory Board and the broader Salvation Army around the country of our efforts to engage more youth and young

adults in the phenomenal work and mission of The Salvation Army.

This edition of Pipeline includes a summary of the YAI team’s principal areas of focus,

which are detailed below:

• Rock the Red Kettle (RTRK) and Post-Concert Volunteer Engagement

• Engaging Young Adults in Salvation Army Mission Trips

• TOMS “Style Your Sole” Event and Partnership Discussions

• NAOC Follow-up

• Engaging 21st Century Volunteers

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WELCOME TO THE PIPELINE

The Salvation Army and TOMS shoes are building a budding relationship that began

with their "Style Your Sole" event at Cowboys Stadium on April 5, 2011. Nearly 150

children from local Salvation Army corps in

Dallas attended the event on the Dallas

Cowboys' field. Each child was presented

their own new pair of TOMS to design and

decorate. The event took place took place

on TOMS' "One Day Without Shoes"

campaign day to raise awareness of those

around the world who spend their lives

without shoes. It also raises awareness of

TOMS one-for-one giving campaign. For

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TOMS SHOES & THE SALVATION ARMY

In April 2011, more than 80 young adult profes-

sionals from across the United States joined with

other delegates at NAOC 2011 in Orlando, FL.

More than fifty of those individuals were there on

scholarships provided by the National Advisory

Board. Each scholarship provided conference and

hotel registration. Divisional and Territorial sup-

port assisted with travel costs in most cases.

Four workshops were planned to engage this

group in dialogue concerning The Salvation Army

and their generation. They were introduced to

each other, officers and board members who are

actively seeking to change the way the Army

relates to the Millennial Generation. Workshops

included a brainstorming session, Jr. Advisory

Board development, Young Adult Initiatives and a

panel of current board members sharing their

history and experience.

At the conclusion of NAOC 2011, millennial dele-

gates returned home with a new sense of passion

for The Salvation Army’s mission and work in

their own community. In addition, they now real-

ize that there are others in communities across

the country just like them. Networking and infor-

mation sharing has continued since April. A new

level of excitement is reverberating throughout

The Salvation Army and in the communities

where we serve.

NAOC 2011 Just Imagine

National Young Adult Initiative

T he S a l v a t i o n A rmy

PipelinePipelinePipelinePipeline Autumn 2011

Young adults in the United States continued to volunteer at impressive rates in 2010.

According to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics approximately 22% of all

young adults between the ages of 16 – 34 volunteered in 2010 with a median average

of 40 hours of service per individual. This translates to a total of 697.4 million hours of

service with a value of $14.8 billion to organizations across the country. The Salvation

Army benefited in part from a portion of this giving of time.

The Young Adult Initiative (YAI) has found that The Salvation Army has a great appre-

ciation for the service that young adults can provide. Despite the lack of capacity to

adequately manage volunteers, local units from across the country have begun finding

ways of engaging young adults in fulfilling its mission. Examples of how young adults

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21st CENTURY VOLUNTEERS

MEET THE TEAM

Jason Howard NAB Member/Chair, YA Task Force

Sally Harris NAB Member/Advisor

Marcia Larson NAB Member (installed September 2011)

Meredith Counce Team Member/Liaison to NAB Chairperson

Pastor Miles McPherson NAB Member/Advisor

Diane Paddison NAB Member/Advisor

Captain Rob Reardon National Young Adult Initiative Coordinator

Captain Kyle Smith Western Territorial Representative

Joy Mikles Southern Territorial Representative

Rob Bonesteele Central Territorial Representative

Kelly Pope Eastern Territorial Representative

Oren MacMillan Administrative Support/NHQ

NAOC Scholarship Recipients participate in one of four

workshops designed specifically for young adult professionals.

2

September 2011 2 PipelinePipelinePipelinePipeline

One of the exciting strategies cur-

rently being developed is a project

aimed at recruiting young adult pro-

fessionals to participate in domestic

and global short-term missions ex-

periences. The goal of this strategy is

to introduce those who are not yet

associated with The Salvation Army

to its mission—globally and locally.

It has been reported that one of the

key factors in attracting young adults

to a cause is to expose them to

what’s being done around the world

related to that cause. Such a global

perspective will change their view of

how things are here at home, thus making the individual more aware of

the needs in his or her own community. We believe that offering mis-

sions experiences to a new group of young adults will forever impact

the way they view The Salvation Army in the United States and will

help us retain them as long-term volunteers and supporters in their

own communities.

The Young Adult Initiative will look to the expertise of missions special-

ists from within the US territories to assist in the development of this

missions strategy. Teams of young adults will be recruited from across

the United States and will be connected with local Salvation Army rep-

resentatives to maximize the local impact upon returning from the

mission field.

We are confident that this initiative will be instrumental in bringing

new people into the ranks of The Salvation Army as volunteers and

supporters.

WELCOME TO THE PIPELINE

We are excited about the opportunity to engage more youth and young

adults, and we thank The Salvation Army’s Commissioners’ Conference,

National Advisory Board and Territorial leadership for their consistent

and significant support of our outreach activities. As we move forward

on this important initiative, we welcome your comments, advice and

prayers. We’ll need them all. We are all truly honored to have the

opportunity to work on such an exciting and meaningful project.

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are being engaged include internships, seasonal opportunities, and

event based volunteering such as “I’ll Fight Day”.

There is a strong belief that these engagement opportunities are just

the beginning, and with deliberate planning there are many more

meaningful engagement opportunities that can strengthen the Army’s

connection to young adults. The primary way that the Young Adult

Initiative is promoting engagement of young adults is through Jr.

Boards. At NAOC, the YAI organized presentations of successful models

of Jr. Boards that are operating across the country. Additionally, schol-

arships were provided to young adults in Army advisory organizations

to attend NAOC in order to strengthen the integration of these young

adults into The Salvation Army. In order to ensure continued contact

with young adults, YAI has created social media outlets with relevant

and current communications. The YAI has also created a support docu-

ment to be included in the “Rock the Red Kettle” Campaign to assist

corps with ideas and resources to help engage young adults who attend

or stream the event.

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21st CENTURY VOLUNTEERS

MISSION ADVANCE

Rock the Red Kettle is an

exciting annual concert se-

ries which features estab-

lished music artists and aims

to introduce The Salvation

Army to a new generation of

volunteers, officers, soldiers,

advisory board members and

potential contributors. The

Salvation Army organized the

first Rock the Red Kettle concert in December 2010 in Los Angeles, CA.

Based on the success of the first concert, which was seen by more than

20,000 online and in person and which generated more than 8.8 million

media impressions, The Salvation Army is expanding the RTRK fran-

chise by organizing two Rock the Red Kettle concerts for 2011. Con-

certs are planned for the 2011 holiday season and are expected to be

held at Universal Studios in Orlando and Los Angeles.

As part of planning for the Rock the Red Kettle event, the YAI team has

been asked to coordinate with Salvation Army teams in Orlando and

Los Angeles to ensure that concert participants are connected with

volunteer engagement opportunities during and after the concert. We

have initiated active discussions on this important initiative and plan-

ning is underway to leverage the RTRK concert and introduce the con-

cert attendees to the extraordinary breadth and mission of The Salva-

tion Army.

ROCK THE RED KETTLE

every pair of shoes, whether donated or purchased, TOMS gives a pair

of shoes to a child in need.

Since the April 5th event, The Salvation Army and TOMS have been

working together to build other partnership opportunities. There has

been progress on potentially using Salvation Army International

locations as sites to utilize TOMS giving for the local children. Each child

from the chosen giving sites would receive a pair of shoes. These shoes

would help prevent disease as well as meet school dress code so that

child is able to attend school while meeting school uniform

requirements. TOMS unique continued giving style also allows for the

same children to receive a new pair of TOMS every 6 months.

Both organizations are excited about the potential of giving overseas

through The Salvation Army. Salvation Army officers and National

Advisory Board members alike are working with TOMS to forge a

relationship that will lead to the Army becoming a giving partner.

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Children sit in front of The Salvation Army shield on the field of Cowboys Stadium

during the “Style your Sole” event on April 5, 2011.

TOMS SHOES & THE SALVATION ARMY