All The Salvation Army Wants for Christmas Is...

First-Annual Christmas 'Wish List' of Capital Needs for 2008 Includes Buildings, Appliances, Vehicles and Recreation Equipment

ALEXANDRIA, Va., Dec. 4 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Every Christmas across the country, The Salvation Army helps make Christmas wishes come true by distributing donated toys, clothes and gifts to children and families in need. Today, the Army announced its own first-annual Christmas Wish List, which includes more than 488 examples of specific capital needs that The Salvation Army will use to help serve even more people. Items on The Salvation Army Wish List range from new buildings and disaster service vehicles to computer lab equipment and band instruments.

"This is a bit of a departure from our traditional fundraising approach at Christmas and throughout the year, but we were overwhelmed by the response to this concept within our organization" said Major George Hood, National Community Relations and Development Secretary for The Salvation Army. "The Wish List allows individuals and companies to have a real say in where their donation goes -- providing something that will have an immediate, tangible impact on people in their community."

The first annual Salvation Army Christmas Wish List is part of a national initiative to educate donors about specific needs The Salvation Army has at Christmas and year-round. Nearly every part of the country is represented, with hundreds of different gift ideas. The entire list is easily searchable at The Salvation Army's national web site, http://www.salvationarmyusa.org.

The average cost of the items on the wish list is $231,815 thousand, with the most affordable being a kitchen meat-slicer, which rings in at $300 each. While, the most expensive gift on the list, a new adult rehabilitation center, is estimated to cost $8 million.

A sample of other interesting gift ideas from around the country includes:

    -- Gymnasium (Dover Citadel, Ohio), estimated at $500,000.
       -- The new gym will give thousands of children and adults a clean,
          safe place to play. It will host an after-school Learning Center
          and feeding program for youth. It would be the only free 
          gymnasium in the county.

    -- Kitchen renovation (Chicago, IL) , estimated at $60,906
       -- The Salvation Army East Chicago Corps serves 120-150 people per
          day from an out-dated, residential kitchen built in 1976.
          Clients depend on the Corps for hot-meals and daily sustenance.

    -- 180 Folding chairs (Charleston, VA), estimated at $16,200
       -- Thousands of children ages 6-14 from low and moderate income
          families attend the camp to experience the outdoors. The high-back
          metal folding chairs would provide seating for campers at
          gatherings, including Bible class.

    -- Jungle Gym (Anaheim, CA), estimated at $70,000
       -- The Anaheim Red Shield Youth Center in Orange County, CA,
          focuses on providing area youth with recreational, educational
          and spiritual programs. An indoor play system for 150-250
          children ranging in age from 7 to 12 would give at-risk children
          somewhere to go to stay safe and have fun in a monitored setting.

    -- Convection Oven (Bridgeport, CT), estimated at $2,729
       -- A new convection oven will replace the gas oven in the
          Center's kitchen that only works on one side. The center
          serves 150-200 meals a day, and a new oven will ensure
          that the kitchen is safe and that food is properly prepared.

    -- Nintendo Wii (Boyertown, PA), estimated at $400
       -- The Nintendo Wii will replace outdated gaming systems at
          the dmZ Teen Center program, an after-school drop-in center
          where teens can "hang out" in a safe environment.

    -- Portable Puppet Stage (Lancaster, OH) estimated at $379.95
       -- The portable, collapsible puppet stage will allow the puppet
          ministry to take their puppet shows on the road to nursing
          homes, community events, and adult day care centers.
          Approximately 100 people a month would be able to enjoy their
          puppet shows if they receive this stage.

Donors interested in fulfilling any of the needs on the Wish List can go to http://www.salvationarmyusa.org, or call 1-800-SAL-ARMY.

About The Salvation Army

The Salvation Army, an evangelical part of the universal Christian church established in 1865, has been supporting those in need in His name without discrimination for 127 years in the United States. More than 35 million Americans receive assistance from The Salvation Army each year through the broadest array of social services that range from providing food for the hungry, relief for disaster victims, assistance for the disabled, outreach to the elderly and ill, clothing and shelter to the homeless and opportunities for underprivileged children. About 83 cents of every dollar raised is used to support those services in 5,000 communities nationwide. For more information, go to http://www.salvationarmyusa.org.