Volunteer group provides needed service

Bill Erin

Thursday, Sept. 4, 2008 | midnight

Another unique feature of Boulder City is the evolving of its own version of the Salvation Army. Emergency Aid, a Boulder City nonprofit charity, performs many of the functions of the Salvation Army and works closely with the Salvation Army of Henderson, particularly during the Christmas season.

People in Boulder City are familiar with Emergency Aid and have contributed generously to it. Don Walker, one of the group's driving forces, a member of the board of directors and former president, took me on an historic tour of its past.

The charity started during the building of Hoover Dam. It began in Grace Community Church, which was built by the workers. Church-sponsored assistance of food and travelers' aid grew as the town did, with the churches coalescing into an organization. In 1966 they formed a nonprofit corporation called Boulder City Welfare Services Inc.

It wasn't until about five years ago that the name was changed to Emergency Aid.

"In the early years they operated from wherever they could find a seat to work from," Walker said. It wasn't until the late '80s that the group got office space in the old Senior Center, now occupied by the Police Department.

Walker showed me what they used for a pantry in those days. It's a small building about the size of a garage in back of Emily Henderson's home at 636 Avenue I. Henderson, whom Walker described as one of the grand old ladies of Boulder City, gave it to the church to use after her husband died. The church, in turn, gave it to the welfare organization.

It was the group's pantry for years, but wasn't big enough to hold the food donated during the annual Letter Carrier's drive. Excess food was stored wherever they could find room. When a client of the organization was given food, the office worker had to walk down the alley to the pantry to get the baskets.

Walker said he sat next to then Mayor Bob Ferraro at a Salvation Army banquet and explained their problem. Ferraro agreed to give them space at the old Water & Power Building, and in 2001 the group was able to move in there with offices and about 1,500 square feet of storage space. It is still there and has the food organized on makeshift shelves from wherever they could scavenge them.

Since the infamous day of Sept. 11, 2001, which for some reason increased the need in Boulder City, Emergency Aid has distributed more than 15,000 pounds of food a month to the needy of Boulder City. Walker said, "Either we weren't serving the need, or the need mushroomed."

Food comes from a variety of sources. Vons, through Councilman Mike Pacini's influence, gives daily bread, milk, eggs and produce that has been replaced in the store. The Letter Carriers drive and the United Way, which matches the food drive intake each year, and the Henderson Salvation Army, which donates food whenever it has a surplus, all help keep food on the shelves.

Emergency Aid also purchases food from the Three Square Food Bank at 9 cents a pound. And, Walker said, at Thanksgiving when the group announces it needs turkeys, "Turkeys just seem to fall from the sky."

It's not just food the group dispenses to clients. They assist transients, often referred to them by the police, with lodging, meals and gas. They also assist those who prove worthy with rent, utilities, transportation and medicine.

And it's all done with volunteers. From the Board of Directors through the Auxiliary Members to the spot volunteers during the food drive and at Christmas, it's done by your neighbors.

Walker would love to have you join them. Volunteers are as hard to come by as spare food. Sign up at the Water & Power Building.

Bill Erin is a Boulder City News columnist.