Salvation Army Majors reflect on their first year in the Lock City

Dec. 15—It's been almost a year since the newest leaders of the Lockport Salvation Army arrived at the center on Cottage Street for the first time.

Throughout their 36-year career with the Salvation Army, Majors Tom and Barb Duperree have had their fair share of community service experiences. However, they say, their latest stop in Lockport has already proven to be a unique experience.

The Duperrees arrived in January to fill the void left by Majors Jose and Elsa Jo Santiago, who were reassigned to Puerto Rico in August of 2022.

"There was a need in Lockport," Tom recalled. "The Santiagos were here and they were called upon to transition."

One of the biggest differences between their previous assignments in Dayton, Ohio, and Philadelphia, is the responsibility of running the Sister Mary Loretto Memorial Community Soup Kitchen, which depends heavily on community support in the form of volunteers and cash and in-kind donors.

"In our experience, this is our first time running a soup kitchen, serving a meal five days a week," Tom said.

The Lockport citadel also houses a food pantry and serves as the city's official "Code Blue" warming shelter where people in need may stay overnight when the temperature drops below 32 degrees.

In both the soup kitchen and the warming shelter, the Duperrees have opportunities to interact directly with the community members they're meant to serve, many of whom are homeless.

"It's a whole new dynamic of service," Tom said. "One of the biggest concerns we share is the prevention of homelessness, because once people are consigned to homelessness, then along with that comes a whole host of other issues."

The Duperrees have also been adjusting to the dynamic of running operations in a small city versus a metropolitan area.

"The difference is that your staff is small. So, because of that, we're trying to take care of it all and are often overlapping in job responsibilities," Barb said.

According to Barb, having to pick up day-to-day functions such as payroll has given them a more hands-on experience in leadership.

It also underscores the importance of the Salvation Army's volunteer base and advisory board to the operations.

"We have regular volunteers who come here every week and give their time to help us deliver services and that's invaluable to us," Tom said.

Working with people from outside the citadel has been another high point so far in the Duperrees' tenure in the Lock City.

"One of the things that hits me the most in Western New York is the generosity of the people in this community and I would say specifically the generosity of the farming community," Tom said.

"When you're living in food deserts, how do people access good, healthy food? The farmers really help to take care of that issue in a big way for the people that we serve, bringing in fresh apples, squash, lettuce and tomatoes, you name it."

Tom also noted the similarities between the Lockport community and his hometown, Punxsutawney, Pa.

"This is slightly larger, maybe three times the size of the town I grew up in. It's sort of like 'Cheers,' where everybody knows your name," he said.

As they look towards the conclusion of this year's soup kitchen fund drive — the 40th annual drive sponsored by the Union-Sun & Journal and supported entirely by this community — the Duperrees say the most rewarding part of their assignment is continuing to build relationships with the community.

"There's sometimes successes and sometimes not, but it's part of the work that we do," Barb said. "A lot of what we do is just sowing seeds."

EVERY PENNY COUNTS

The goal of this year's fund drive for Sister Mary Loretto Memorial Community Soup Kitchen is $75,000. To contribute directly:

—Clip the fund gift form published daily in the Union-Sun & Journal and either drop off your donation and the gift form at the Salvation Army office or mail it to: Salvation Army, 50 Cottage St., Lockport, NY 14094. Checks should be made out to the Salvation Army of Lockport and "Soup Kitchen" written on the memo line, to ensure that the money goes directly to support soup kitchen operations.

—Text SOUPSON to 31333 and be directed to a digital donation page. The "in honor / in memory" designation is available.