A Full-Circle Testimony

Many people have similar core childhood memories. We remember things like our first best friend, the neighborhood we grew up in, and our first car. Marlon Montgomery has all these same memories from his childhood. Yet, there is one core memory that stands out to him the most — his experience with The Salvation Army.

Montgomery grew up on the south side of Charlotte, North Carolina, in the 1980s. He remembers often playing games outside with his sister and friends. But on Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays, those same kids were outside for a different reason: they were waiting to be picked up to go to The Salvation Army.

“They would pick you up for bowling, basketball, and Bible study,” Montgomery recalls. “I remember stuff like going fishing or going to sing Christmas carols.”

Montgomery participated in The Salvation Army’s Adventure Corps, a character-building program for boys, attended the North & South Carolina Division’s Camp Walter Johnson with his sister for several summers, and even became a junior soldier at the corps.

“I learned life skills, leadership, teamwork through sports programs and the clubs,” he says. “Just being around positive adult mentors, I knew I was in a safe environment.”

As Montgomery entered his teens, he began ringing the bell in front of a Walmart for the Army’s Red Kettle Campaign. “It was a job opportunity as a teenager to ring bells,” he explains. “So, I was working at McDonald’s and [ringing bells] for a couple of weeks during the winter.”

As Montgomery reflects on his early memories with The Salvation Army, he remembers a place where children like him had something positive to do and mentors to look up to. It was more than just a program for him. It was a place where he found belonging and growth without even realizing it.

Now, decades later, Montgomery has returned to The Salvation Army, not as a child receiving support, but as a volunteer doing something he’s familiar with: ringing the bell in front of a Walmart. He shares, “I had a lady come to me at the Arboretum, and she said, ‘It’s so cold out here. God bless you,’ and I said, ‘Yeah, but it’s for a good cause.’”

He also volunteers during the Army’s Angel Tree gift distribution, helping less fortunate families receive Christmas gifts for their children. He recalls from one Christmas, “I had a lady that I helped get a gift to her car. She said, ‘I just want to say thank you.’ I said, ‘Oh, I’m just doing what I like doing. [The Salvation Army] helped me out when I was younger.’ And she started crying and gave me a hug.”

It’s moments like this that keep Montgomery motivated to pay it forward. “There are a lot of people out there that can use the help,” he says. “I know that my money and time are going to a good cause.”

What was once just a childhood memory has become a personal mission for Montgomery. “It makes me feel overwhelmed with joy to know that when somebody is going through a struggle, as a volunteer, I can help make it better.”