Honoring our troops and spreading smiles
Five U.S. Military Flags and a few autographed baseballs brought hundreds of downtowners and young children closer to The Salvation Army

“This is just a small token of appreciation to the men and women who serve us; we can let them know their service is not in vain and we have not forgotten them. We will never forget them,” shared Major Flanagan during the kick-off press conference.

At the end of this month, the five flags will be collected by Brookfield Properties and delivered to active U.S. Armed Forces service members overseas.

One day later, some 230 Salvation Army Boys & Girls Clubs members gathered at Minute Maid Park to celebrate The Salvation Army Night with the Houston Astros. They were there to cheer on their hometown team to victory against the Atlanta Braves.

“We are tremendously grateful to all of the people who sponsored one of our Boys & Girls Clubs members,” said Doug Smith, director of The Salvation Army’s Boys & Girls Clubs. “We would not have been able to bring as many kids to this game without the community’s support.”

Individuals and corporations were asked to sponsor a child’s attendance to this event. For many of them, it was their first time going to a baseball game at a professional stadium. The experience proved to be quite memorable – in fact a few lucky fans received personally autographed baseballs from relief pitcher LaTroy Hawkins, who was involved with the Boys & Girls Club in Gary, Indiana.

A portion of each ticket sponsored was donated to The Salvation Army.