Salem Salvation Army aims to help 350 kids

SALEM — The Salem Salvation Army is on track to meet its goal of $40,000 to help the less fortunate this year.

Capt. John Brand of the Salvation Army, 1249 N. Ellsworth Ave., said Tuesday that there are about 500 children in 350 needy families in the Salem-Columbiana area.

The official deadline is next Monday for its Angel Tree program. In this program, youths can ask for items such as clothes, books or toys.

People can select a request and buy what the child wants.

After that, “Parents can look at the gifts and decide how they want to wrap them,” said Brand.

Despite the poor economy, requests for help are down.

Other local helping agencies are also seeing a slight decrease in requests.

For the complete story, read Wednesday's Vindicator or Vindy.com.