The Do Gooders Podcast

Welcome back to Table-ology, a seven-day Scripture study in the lead up to Thanksgiving Day by Major Nancy Helms. If you're just joining in, head back to part one to hear more about this series and then continue on. We hope it will serve as a meditative moment for you as you prepare your heart and home for this Thanksgiving.  EPISODE SHOWNOTES:  Read more. BE AFFIRMED.  Get the Good Words email se...

Welcome back to Table-ology, a seven-day Scripture study in the lead up to Thanksgiving Day by Major Nancy Helms. If you're just joining in, head back to part one to hear more about this series and then continue on. We hope it will serve as a meditative moment for you as you prepare your heart and home for this Thanksgiving.  EPISODE SHOWNOTES:  Read more. BE AFFIRMED.  Get the Good Words email se...

Welcome back to Table-ology, a seven-day Scripture study in the lead up to Thanksgiving Day by Major Nancy Helms. If you're just joining in, head back to part one to hear more about this series and then continue on. We hope it will serve as a meditative moment for you as you prepare your heart and home for this Thanksgiving.  EPISODE SHOWNOTES:  Read more. BE AFFIRMED.  Get the Good Words email se...

Welcome back to Table-ology, a seven-day Scripture study in the lead up to Thanksgiving Day by Major Nancy Helms. If you're just joining in, head back to part one to hear more about this series and then continue on. We hope it will serve as a meditative moment for you as you prepare your heart and home for this Thanksgiving.  EPISODE SHOWNOTES:  Read more. BE AFFIRMED.  Get the Good Words email se...

Welcome back to Table-ology, a seven-day Scripture study in the lead up to Thanksgiving Day by Major Nancy Helms. If you're just joining in, head back to part one to hear more about this series and then continue on. We hope it will serve as a meditative moment for you as you prepare your heart and home for this Thanksgiving.  EPISODE SHOWNOTES:  Read more. BE AFFIRMED.  Get the Good Words email se...

Welcome back to Table-ology, a seven-day Scripture study in the lead up to Thanksgiving Day by Major Nancy Helms. If you're just joining in, head back to part one to hear more about this series and then continue on. We hope it will serve as a meditative moment for you as you prepare your heart and home for this Thanksgiving.  EPISODE SHOWNOTES:  Read more. BE AFFIRMED.  Get the Good Words email se...

We are interrupting our ongoing festive Christmas programming here on the Do Gooders Podcast to bring you something different, something special—a seven-day Scripture study in the lead up to Thanksgiving Day. Thanksgiving is a time where families, friends, even strangers, gather around tables to share meals and fellowship, offering thanks to God for his abundant blessings in their lives.  But what...

Did you hear? It is Christmastime, and in The Salvation Army, it's one of our favorite times of year. For us, smiles make the greatest gifts. From physical needs such as grocery, utility and gift assistance, to emotional experiences including holiday events and traditions, to spiritual guidance that provides healing and hope, we work to assist the whole person through gifts that serve the body, mi...

Welcome to the kickoff of the merriest time of year. And no, it's not too early because Christmastime has already started in The Salvation Army. Yes, The Salvation Army is hard at work to make the holiday season a little brighter. Of course, most people know us for our Red Kettles , our Angel Trees, and our strong presence during the Christmas season—but we support local families all throughout th...

As I mentioned in our last episode, there's so much going on in our world and we want to address it here in a way that's valuable for you. You've seen the news. You know what's going on. If you feel like you're living through history, well, you are. A global pandemic crisis, a global financial crisis, a crisis in Ukraine, and now a crisis in Israel and Gaza. War. If there's one thing we know it's...

Quick programming note: We recorded this episode before recent events unfolded. It doesn't address the current war in the Middle East but we believe this episode still holds value so we're sharing it today as planned. Then we'll be back with an added bonus episode this week with a family therapist on how to care for ourselves in an emotionally taxing world and how to address what's going on with o...

In the words of French writer Antoine de Saint Exupéry, "If you want to build a ship, don't drum up people to collect wood and don't assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea."   In other words, cast a vision of what could be. That's exactly what Dr. Matthew Desmond is doing in his latest book, " Poverty, by America ," because the end of poverty...

We talk a lot about The Salvation Army's fight against hunger, homelessness, against poverty. You might remember back to our series on the Pathway of Hope , episodes 88-93. In that series, we explored in depth The Salvation Army's initiative to break the cycle of crisis and vulnerability for families—the effort to meet immediate needs and have a lasting, intergenerational impact by addressing the...

People call him "Ragu the Plumber." But these days Ragu Razo doesn't work as a plumber. Six years ago, he swapped his old nine-to-five job to drive a refrigerated truck for The Salvation Army in Mesa, Arizona.  Every weekday, Razu collects food from five different stores on his route in the East Valley. The food is still good, but it won't be sold anymore at stores because it's reached the "sell b...

How do you define poverty?  Oxford describes it as "the state of being extremely poor." Webster says it's "the state of one who lacks a usual or socially acceptable amount of money or material possessions." While poverty does cover a wide range of material problems related to daily life and survival, it's also psychologically threatening to those experiencing it because it leads to shame. When it...

Did you know in the last three years, the demand for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program ( SNAP ) has skyrocketed? In 2022, one in eight Americans — or more than 41 million people — received SNAP benefits. Those benefits were expanded in the early days of the pandemic, as the country faced unprecedented uncertainty around the economy and the grocery supply chain. During that time, recipi...

We're kicking off our state of the issues series today with the state of hunger. According to the USDA, more than 34 million people, including 9 million children, today in the United States are food insecure.  Across the country, The Salvation Army operates more than 1,500 food pantries, and annually serves more than 171 million meals, which includes prepared meals and some 6.4 million food boxes...

Just a year ago, if you would've asked the experts where the U.S. was headed, they were certain of one thing: the country was beelining toward a recession.  In fact, a Bloomberg economic model  said the odds of a U.S. recession in 2023 were 100 percent . Not 99 percent. There was no possible chance an economic slowdown was avoidable. So, how are we doing a year later? Well, you could say those gri...

As the saying goes, the mind is a terrible thing to waste.  That's the ethos Major Terry Masango lives by, and it's paid off as he recently received a Doctor of Education in Organizational Leadership. Dr. Masango was raised in Zimbabwe and now as a Salvation Army officer, or pastor, he serves in the Seattle area as the General Secretary in the Northwest Division—a role you might compare to a chief...

Before and after. Before 2020, the idea of closed borders, lockdowns, face masks, social distancing, and testing weren't a thing. After, we've experienced the real toll, the disruption, the unknown that the pandemic brought. It was a crisis of a generation, and it changed the world on a global scale. Mental exhaustion, economic disparities and escalating divisions now mark our times. But award-win...

Did you know The Salvation Army serves in more than 130 countries around the world and in every U.S. zip code, working to meet human needs in every community—exactly as that community needs?  Every program is rooted in a passion to serve God by serving the hurting, the helpless and the hopeless. In the Western Territory, The Salvation Army serves the 13 Western states in addition to Guam and Micro...

After 37 years of not believing, one day, God was there. That was the experience Andrew Flockhart had. As he says: I found God at the Dallas-Love Field Airport on a business trip.  Now in training to become a Salvation Army officer (or pastor) at the College for Officer Training at Crestmont in Rancho Palos Verdes, California, Cadet Andrew Flockhart is preparing to be commissioned and sent out for...

Things are messy, right? That's life? So where is the joy? How do you find it? Captain Arwyn Rodriguera can show you the way. Arwyn Rodriguera is the Corps Officer and Executive Director of The Salvation Army Ray and Joan Kroc Corps Community Center San Francisco and Railton Place, a 113-unit affordable housing development in the city's Tenderloin neighborhood. And she's also the adoptive mother t...

"Great faith inspires great dreams. Great dreams require great faith." That's a line from Rick Warren's new book, " Created to Dream: The 6 Phases God Uses to Grow Your Faith ." Of course, you know Rick Warren as the author behind the transformative bestseller, "The Purpose Driven Life," which has sold over 35 million copies worldwide and helped millions of readers discover their purpose and meani...

How do you want to experience your life?  What do you want your life to reflect? What are the simple, soul-filling ways you can upgrade your time, even if it's just a few minutes? In this episode, you'll find a mini workshop right here in your podcast player—a workshop to make a plan for joy. EPISODE SHOWNOTES: Read more. BE AFFIRMED.  Get the Good Words email series . WHAT'S YOUR CAUSE?  Take our...