ORLANDO, Fla. – The challenge was enormous and the stakes were high: the Salvation Army needed to raise $4 million from the community to repair and rebuild its downtown Orlando Men’s and Veterans’ Shelter, the longest-serving shelter of its kind in Central Florida.
And if the Salvation Army didn’t do it by Dec. 31, the matching $4 million grant promised by the city of Orlando and Orange County would expire.
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Well, Central Florida delivered just in time for Christmas.
News 6 reported in September that the Salvation Army was running out of time to raise the funds.
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Salvation Army Florida Division public relations manager Natasha Player said the shelter is failing.
“For decades, the Salvation Army’s Men’s and Veterans’ Shelter has been a refuge for those in our community who need it most,” Player said. “But as the years have passed, this vital facility has become worn down and outdated. Every day, thousands of hot meals are prepared in a broken-down kitchen, and every night we operate at 100% capacity in our crowded dorms, offering beds to over 115 men who have nowhere else to turn.”
Player said the ceiling is leaking, the kitchen and laundry room can’t keep up and the shelter is out of space.
“It’s a lifeline for men facing unimaginable hardships,” Player said. “However, to continue serving our neighbors with the dignity and care they deserve, we urgently need help.”
Salvation Army Major Ken Chapman took News 6 on a tour of the crumbling building.
“We have leaks and all of these buckets,” Chapman said. “We’re actually running out of buckets for the leaks that come from the first floor in the 50-year-old building.”
The freezer floor is rotting and the freezer itself is on the brink. A grease trap in the kitchen overflows regularly onto the kitchen.
“We call a cleaning service. We have to pay for that,” Chapman said. “And we keep on with our business. We do not let this building stop the services that we offer every day in this community.”
And the shelter is out of space.
“Demand for our services has increased 38% in just one year,” Chapman said. “There are people who can’t afford groceries and rent.”
Chapman said during September’s News 6 interview that if he couldn’t afford to renovate the building, all of the services the shelter provides — daily hot meals, showers, laundry, job searching and a warm bed every night — would be at risk. He would have to close down the building when it became inhabitable.
But on Monday, Chapman announced that would not happen.
He revealed that a donor saw the story on News 6 and wanted to do something impactful with his life savings.
The donor, who is choosing to stay anonymous, just signed paperwork giving the Salvation Army a lump sum of $2.5 million!
The donation, along with several smaller donations, reaches the $4 million total Chapman was desperate to raise before the end of the year. The large donation means the Salvation Army will now receive the matching $4 million grant from the city and county.
“I staggered a little bit, and, first of all, thanked God, because he delivered on what I knew was going to be his promise to us,” Chapman said. “He [the donor] said, I saw this on TV. I am moved in my heart. I want to do something to help you to fill the gap. He just wants to help the community and leave a legacy here in Orlando and doesn’t need the credit. So now we can move forward with this shelter and a call from News 6 got results for this community. And this is the power of the media and the power of News 6.”
Chapman said all of the donations have been a heart-warming Christmas blessing, and he’s grateful for every penny.
For information and ways to contact the Salvation Army, click here.