The bags of brand-new school clothes were financed by the Greater Ravalli Foundation and purchased and assembled by Smut and June Warren. The Salvation Army, Poe said, helps distribute the clothing to low-income families in the valley.

"Smut is the mouthpiece, Greater Ravalli Foundation is the financier and we are the local contact," she said. "I do the interviewing and needs assessment."

The project is one of about a half dozen that Poe has been involved in since taking over as social work coordinator from Donna Norton. Most recently she assisted with a pilot project to distribute backpacks full of school supplies to school children from local families, and her office works with other groups like the Ravalli County Ministerial Association to get clothing, gas, motel and household vouchers to people in need.

Located at 316 North Third Street, Suite 161, in Hamilton, Bitterroot Salvation Army is a satellite of the Salvation Army in Missoula and has been up and running for about a year-and-a-half. Its relatively short life and low profile have made it difficult for people who want to contribute through the local office to the Katrina relief efforts, Poe said.

"We're the best-kept secret in the Bitterroot," she said. "But the Salvation Army has traditionally been the first ones to respond during disasters, and we're currently sending money to the places it's needed most."

Like other national organizations, like the Red Cross, involved in the hurricane relief efforts, The Salvation Army requests donations of money rather than goods, and they encourage people to specify that they want their donations to go to the relief efforts.

"We are accepting cash and checks rather than commodities," she said. "And, in order to make sure the money goes straight to the victims, we're asking people to write 'Katrina' or 'relief' on the memo of their check."

And even though people can go straight to the Salvation Army's national Web site to make a donation, Poe encourages people instead to go through the local office.

"The Salvation Army tracks all their donations," she said, "and one way for us to justify our existence here in the valley is for the donations to come through our office."

One local group currently raising money for hurricane victims is the Bitterroot Homeschoolers, and according to Poe, they requested their donations to go through the local Salvation Army office.

"The homeschool kids placed donation buckets at all the supermarkets and already have raised over $500," she said. "They wanted it to go through the Salvation Army."

Founded in 1865 in England by William Booth, an ordained Methodist minister, and his wife Catherine, the Salvation Army was originally called The Christian Mission, according to its Web site.

From the beginning, it recognized the interdependence of people's material, emotional and spiritual needs. In addition to preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ, Booth became involved in the feeding and shelter of the hungry and homeless and in rehabilitation of alcoholics.

When it became The Salvation Army in 1878, the organization evolved on a quasi-military pattern. Booth became "the General" and officers' ranks were given to his ministers.

The Salvation Amy has functioned successfully within that unusual structure for more than a century.

As of 2005, its outreach has been expanded to include more than 100 countries, and the Gospel is preached by its officers in more than 160 languages.

Bitterroot Salvation Army is open from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday, and can be reached by calling 363-6101 ext. 248.

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