Salvation Army

Millions of Americans each Thanksgiving thank heaven for their blessings great and small, and a number of them add the Salvation Army to their list because of its long dedication to social service. Some people who are doubly thankful will take part in a two-hour Thanksgiving musical program Sunday at the Army's Congress Hall in downtown Los Angeles. Among those singing in the 4 p.m.

By day, Henry Graciani oversees a 54-bed treatment center for alcoholics and drug addicts who come to him broke and hopeless. After work, he makes a quick drive to the $1.3-million Santa Monica home he shares with his wife and three children. Graciani is not a high-paid executive returning to a beach retreat. He and his wife, Dina, are career Salvation Army officers who bring home $25,000 per year -- combined . They are among dozens of the charity's officers in Southern California who are paid modest salaries but given rent-free housing -- some in high-priced communities such as Rancho Palos Verdes, Seal Beach and Santa Monica.

The Orange County chapter of the Salvation Army will mark the opening of its church and community center in Tustin Ranch with a concert today and a worship service on Sunday. The 45-piece Salvation Army band will perform at 7 p.m. at the new facility, at 10200 Pioneer Road. Tickets are $5 each. The first service at the church will begin at 11 a.m. Sunday. At 3 p.m., Paul A.

Some acts of charity are as simple as dropping spare change into a Salvation Army kettle. The Salvation Army bell ringers and the collection kettles are virtually an American classic Christmas scene. The Salvation Army says the buckets are a small but important part of the organization's fund-raising efforts. Last year throughout San Diego County, the kettles collected $250,000, which went to cover the expenses of the Salvation Army's holiday programs, its eight shelters and its social programs.

Eva Burrows, a 56-year-old Australian, was chosen Friday as the 13th general of the worldwide Salvation Army. She is the second woman to lead the Salvation Army. The first was Evangeline Booth, daughter of William Booth, the founder of the movement. Burrows, of Fortitude Valley, Queensland, will succeed retiring Jarl Wahlstrom of Finland on July 9 at the organization's London headquarters.

There won't be any "bah humbug" at Bakersfield's Valley Plaza Mall this Christmas season. The shopping center banned the traditional Salvation Army kettles and bell ringers last year because the mall doesn't allow any kind of solicitation for funds. That decision created a major controversy in the community. So Valley Plaza decided to let the five major department stores located there decide individually if the Salvation Army can solicit funds in front of their stores this season.

The Kiwanis Club of Torrance recently donated $250 to the Salvation Army headquarters in Torrance to benefit the army's Senior Day Care Program. For information about the Kiwanis club, call Richard Gaines at 316-3636.

The Salvation Army gives its clients "soup, soap and salvation," but the federal government says it isn't enough. --they should get the minimum wage, too. For 110 years, the non-sectarian Christian group, based five miles northwest here in Verona, N.J., has fed, sheltered and offered spiritual counsel to the people it has taken in at its adult rehabilitation centers.

The Salvation Army is sponsoring a canned-food drive this month to replenish its supplies. Collection containers have been placed at about 100 Orange County businesses and community organizations which are encouraging employees and the public to make donations. Salvation Army officials said the special food drive was prompted by diminishing supplies and a soaring demand for services in the county. Requests for help in 1991 have increased 50% over last year, spokeswoman Emily Seiler said.