Keene State College’s Community Partners list has been around since 2011, according to Director of Student Involvement Jessica Gagne Cloutier. “It’s just a list of organizations in our community and in our region that have offered volunteer opportunities to our students historically,” Cloutier said. “Instead of having to just cold-search, ‘Volunteer in Southwest New Hampshire,’ they can head to that list and see some of the places that are available,” she explained.
Cloutier said that the relationship between organizations on the list and the college is loose, with communication often only pertaining to contact information updates. “There are partners that will occasionally reach out and ask to be added and if they’re not already on there, then we make sure they get added to the list so students have that opportunity,” Cloutier said.
In terms of values, Cloutier said that more extensive vetting is done with organizations in the office’s Alternative Break program, which offers students “domestic and international service-based trips” during the college’s breaks, according to KSC’s website. “When it comes to where students choose to volunteer independently, on their own, again we would look for some of those things with our community partners, but also encourage our students to vet those organizations as well,” Cloutier explained.
The list offers organizations in several categories, ranging from Arts and Culture to Women and Children centered organizations. One familiar name can also be spotted on the list under the ‘Hunger & Homelessness’ section: The Salvation Army.
Many know The Salvation Army for the bellringing volunteers outside of supermarkets during the holiday season or the thrift stores that the organization operates, including one location in Swanzey, N.H. For some, the organization is practically synonymous with the word ‘charity’.
According to The Salvation Army’s website, they offer services in disaster relief, rehabilitation, veterans services, food pantries and more. Lieutenant at the Keene Salvation Army David LaBossiere said he wants people to know that the organization is religious first and foremost.
“Everything we do is coming out of being a church, trying to follow Jesus’s commands to basically take care of people, so that’s why we do a lot of social services,” LaBossiere explained, noting that the thrift store locations are separate from the organization’s Service Centers.
In terms of volunteer opportunities, LaBossiere said that the organization has a variety of options. “We try to meet people where they are, what they like to do, what they’re good at,” he said.
During his tenure at the organization, to which LaBossiere says he has worked in all his life, he remarked on past conversations with those who received help at a location. “There’s been a few moments where I get to meet somebody who has been helped by The Salvation Army in the past and they express their gratitude… we meet people that are just grateful for the services that they’ve been given in the past,” LaBossiere said.
But The Salvation Army hasn’t always been without controversy. Back in 1998, the charity “cut back its programs in San Francisco, saying the city’s ‘domestic partners’ law for gay and unmarried employees violates its religious principles,” according to an article from the Desert News. Additionally, according to The Washington Post, in 2001, the organization made a lobbying push with the George W. Bush administration “to make it easier for government-funded religious groups to practice hiring discrimination gay people,” the article stated. In recent years, the organization has looked to rebrand its image and promote inclusivity.
The Salvation Army’s website now contains a mission statement on LGBTQ+ support, reading, “We’re motivated by the love of God to meet human needs in His name without discrimination. We embrace people regardless of race, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or gender identity. Our hiring practices are open to all, and we provide the same benefits to opposite-sex and same-sex couples.”
KSC Pride President Julia Stearns said that they view organizations listed on the community partners list as endorsements by the college. “If you’re publicly broadcasting like, ‘Go to this place and help out,’ I think that does fall under the definition of endorsement,” Stearns said. When it comes to the organization’s controversial past, Stearns had concerns. “It’s a little disheartening because it’s the same thing as me being a lesbian and having a friend go, ‘Oh, I’m going to Chick-fil-A, do you want anything?’…it doesn’t make me feel good,” Stearns said.
With the organization’s rebranding, Stearns said actions speak louder than words. “It really depends on whether or not they’ve actually gone through, like if you’ve been donating to any of the funds, like have you worked with The Trevor Project, have you been supporting these people?” Stearns asked.
LaBossiere, who has helped manage the organization’s Keene service center for the past three years, said that questions aren’t asked when someone comes to the organization for help. “We help where we can, and we don’t ask questions about who someone is, where they’re coming from, really the only question we’re asking is, ‘How can we help?’” LaBossiere said.
On a volunteer basis, LaBossiere said he follows the same thinking. “We are a church, so a lot of our programs will have some sort of Christian education component, so what we’d say is if someone doesn’t feel comfortable participating, we’re not going to demand anyone be involved with that,” he explained.
“We want to be honest with people about what we’re doing, and we ask the same of our volunteers, just so that if there’s someone that disagrees with us on some front, we don’t want to make that an issue.”
Nathan Hope can be contacted at
nhope@kscequinox.com
