The Salvation Army’s red kettles are a familiar sight every holiday season. This year, the Salvation Army Torrance Corps (SA) began its holiday campaign by thanking sponsors of the program that helps our neighbors in need. Torrance Refining Company (Refinery) has been supporting the SA Christmas Angel Tree Program for many years, and 2024 marked the second consecutive year of support for the Red Kettle campaign.
Torrance Corps Major Tim Smith emphasized dollars donated to local kettles are used to fund crucial services in our area. “The Red Kettle Campaign supports services to our neighbors in need in the South Bay, including Torrance, Harbor City, Carson, Lomita, Wilmington, and Palos Verdes. In Torrance, that includes food boxes for low-income families, toys for children at Christmas, Thanksgiving meals, backpacks, and school supplies, as well as emergency food and hygiene supplies for unsheltered individuals,” he said.
Many people are unfamiliar with the work of the Salvation Army. A shining example is that over the last 12 months, more than 12,000 people in the South Bay were assisted by Salvation Army Torrance Corps services.
Every year, Torrance Refinery employees and contractors look forward to picking a name or two from one of the four SA Christmas Angel Trees located on refinery property. “Employees are excited to shop for their angels and brighten a family’s holiday season,” said Alex Lakatos, Community Relations senior specialist who organizes the program for the Refinery.
“Our Angel Trees will serve 315 local families in the Torrance area, providing toys for over 670 children. We always find that most of the families are very grateful for what they have received. That’s partly because the Christmas Angel program is about helping parents to have the privilege and joy of providing for their children,” said Major Smith.
However, our neighbors’ needs continue beyond the holiday season, so the SA provides other services throughout the year. “In the last 12 months we have provided 6,200 food boxes to families in the South Bay, 3,400 emergency food bags to unsheltered individuals, 2,200 hygiene kits, helped 431 clients with clothing, offered 230 referrals for housing, given 150 backpacks with school supplies, given 6,300 music lessons, and sponsored 31 children to summer camp,” said Major Smith. “The overall impact is that, together with our partners and supporters in the community, we have served 12,893 people in the Torrance area,” he added.
Torrance Refinery Community Relations Manager Barbara Graham said partnerships and making a positive impact in the community that hosts the refinery are important aspects of the company’s business.
“We strive to be a good neighbor. We work hard to balance social responsibility while also manufacturing the world’s cleanest transportation fuels. Many of our employees live in Torrance and surrounding communities, so they look forward to getting involved because they are proud of where they work and what we do. Similarly, the Salvation Army provides many impactful services in the community, and we are pleased to support their efforts,” she said.