Salvation Army

At the Camden Rescue Mission, the Rev. Al Stewart is facing a tough decision tonight. He's collected about 2,500 toys for needy children from Camden and other South Jersey communities for the mission's annual Christmas party. But 6,000 children are registered to receive gifts. Should Stewart hold the party as scheduled on Saturday and give out the toys he has - or postpone the event until he can collect more? "The party will be rescheduled unless we get a miracle," Stewart said, "and God knows we believe in miracles.

Sometimes the best ideas are the simplest ones. Michael Resnic of Philadelphia and his daughter, Madi, 12, were spectators at the Philadelphia Marathon two years ago when they noticed something that seemed wrong. As thousands of runners prepared to start the race on the chilly November morning, the athletes shed their warm-up clothing. It's standard practice at marathons - runners don't need the extra layers because they heat up naturally during the 26.2-mile race. The runners don't want to carry the spare clothing with them, so they discard it at the starting point or along the first few miles of the route.

With the help of Pennsylvania state lawmakers, the Salvation Army's Ray and Joan Kroc Community Center moved closer to its fund-raising goal for construction of the massive new center in Philadelphia's Nicetown section. This week, a group of lawmakers led by State Sen. Vincent Hughes (D., Phila.) presented Salvation Army officials with a $3.45 million grant from the state's Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program. The money will go toward the center's $69 million capital campaign, officials said.

HARRISBURG - A volunteer ringing the bell at a Salvation Army kettle got an unusual donation: a diamond ring. The ring was handed to August Memmi, a Dauphin County employee who was volunteering for the Salvation Army during his lunch hour yesterday. The young man who gave it told Memmi that he bought the ring for his mother using money earned mowing lawns, but that she died this year and he wanted to put it to good use. The Salvation Army planned to have the ring appraised to determine its value.

A decision by United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania to change the way it funds social-service agencies has left those groups scrambling for dollars lost from their budgets. The cuts were made in June, but the impact is still being felt as venerable agencies accustomed to being funneled United Way dollars for decades now find themselves competing for money in an ever-tightening economy. Last week, nine of the agencies - including the Salvation Army of Greater Philadelphia (which is losing nearly $900,000)

For decades, the residents of Camden's Cramer Hill section have seen an overgrown tract of land along Harrison Avenue. The riverfront property was where the city dumped municipal waste from 1952 to 1971. But yesterday, neighbors and officials got a look at the future when the same 24 acres become home to the $36 million Ray and Joan Kroc Corps Community Center, scheduled to open in 2010. In a rendering, unveiled in a sports field across the street, the site's tangled brush and trees were replaced by the Salvation Army-run facility, which will provide recreational, health, educational, cultural, family and spiritual programming.

William F. Rathgeber Jr., 96, formerly of Havertown, a decorated Korean War Army veteran who also won commendations for his work as a civilian serving the military, died May 11 at Pine Run Community in Doylestown. Mr. Rathgeber grew up in Southwest Philadelphia. He dropped out of school in the ninth grade to help support his family and got a job as a messenger. He later worked at Chilton Publishing Co. in Philadelphia where he met his future wife, Lillian Mae Blumenthal. They married in 1936.

A funeral for Ira Shaffer, president of the Pennsylvania and Delaware Chapter of Operation Homefront, will be at 10 a.m. Thursday at the Salvation Army, 1920 E. Allegheny Ave. Burial will be private. Mr. Shaffer, 57, of Fishtown, died Sunday at Hahnemann University Hospital from injuries suffered in a hit-and-run accident Dec. 5 outside the U.S. Post Office in Fishtown. Police are seeking the driver of a dark SUV with front-end damage. Mr. Shaffer and his wife, Nancy Hayes Shaffer, had gone to the post office to mail envelopes from Operation Homefront donors.

Can it be that Philadelphians really are living in the most violent city in America, as the FBI reported recently? It's gut-wrenching to open the paper every day and read about another innocent child, a longtime business owner, or a struggling immigrant whose life has been taken by senseless violence. As the death toll rises - 310, 311, 312 - our confidence in Philadelphia as "the next great city" comes into question; our sense of well-being plummets. We throw up our hands in despair.

When Joan Kroc died in 2003, the McDonald's heiress left $1.6 billion to the Salvation Army. Yesterday, $57 million was earmarked to build and operate a community center in Camden. With $77 million for a previously announced center in Philadelphia, that's $134 million for the region. Philadelphia and Camden were among 30 Eastern cities seeking funding to build community centers in honor of McDonald's founder Ray Kroc and his wife. Six other cities have also been awarded grants.