The Salvation Army voted "Best" in San Francisco Magazine Best of the Bay Area poll

10,000 ballots cast in annual readers' poll, nominating favorites in a variety of categories

San Francisco (June 28, 2011):  The Salvation Army of San Francisco received accolades in the 2011 San Francisco Magazine Best of the Bay Area readers' poll.  Over 10,000 ballots were cast for a variety of categories that capture the Bay Area's favorite lifestyles, food, fashion, culture, politics, trends, and trendsetters.

For the first time, The Salvation Army of San Francisco landed top-honors in two categories: "Best Volunteer Action" and "Best Do-Gooder Action."  This comes after a focused effort to revamp The Salvation Army's volunteer program in San Francisco.

"Hooray! This is such a rewarding surprise," said Jaime Smith, Volunteer Coordinator for The Salvation Army in San Francisco.  "It's a vote of confidence from our volunteers that the work that we're doing is successful and the volunteers are receptive to what we're putting out there."

Smith joined The Salvation Army San Francisco team two years ago and was immediately presented with a challenge: rebuild a fledgling volunteer program that connects with a variety of audiences: from individuals to groups, youth to seniors and everything in-between. 

"My biggest focus was to get the word out," said Smith.  "The public needed to know that we're here, 365 days a year, and volunteering isn't limited to just bell ringing and thrift store work, but that The Salvation Army has variety volunteer opportunities for just about everyone."

In the last two years, The Salvation Army has successfully built volunteer partnerships with a variety of educational institutions and alumni chapters, churches, non-profits, and companies representing several industries, including banking/finance, technology, transportation, retail, utility, real estate, legal, sales/marketing, and others.  And of course, The Salvation Army offers volunteer openings for the individual person, as well. 

Tens-of-thousands of people volunteer to help The Salvation Army's Golden State Division (stretching from San Francisco to Bakersfield) each year. Volunteer participation not only occurs during the holidays, it happens year-round, as tutors for after-school programs, teachers for classes, visitors to homebound seniors, and more. The opportunities are limitless.

Anyone who is interested in volunteering with The Salvation Army in San Francisco (or elsewhere in the Golden State Division) can sign-up online:  CLICK HERE for the online volunteer sign-up.

For the full results of the 2011 Best of the Bay Area poll, visit San Francisco Magazine's website.

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