The Salvation Army Has Meant So Much to So Many
By Fred Niccum
Special to The Galveston County Daily News
Published December 19, 2010
When I was 5 years old, spending half my time on the streets of El Paso and the other half with my mother, brother and sister, I was picked up and placed in Baptist Children's Home in San Antonio.
We had no presence of a father in our home. I finally met him when I was 30 years old. I remember when I was with my mother, she would take me and my siblings to a school gym at Christmas where The Salvation Army had created a toy warehouse and we could pick out a toy.
I vividly remember selecting a Flyer red wagon and a bag of candy. These were my two gifts, which made my Christmas!
I lived with my mother in projects in El Paso, and she knew how to make the best of Christmas in getting us donated gifts.
One of my childhood memories is the ringing of the bells at the red kettles of The Salvation Army during the season. My wife, who is a teacher in a Clear Creek school, and I always stop and make a donation during the Christmas Red Kettle campaign. It feels good to us and we know the money will always be used to help others.
My mother eventually remarried and came to the Baptist Children's Home and took my brother to live with her but left me behind. My sister was taken in by a family in New Mexico.
I didn't understand at the time why my mother made the decision to choose just my brother to live with her and her new husband. I felt very unfortunate, and my life was sprinkled with obstacles. But as years passed, I learned to cope with an ever-changing world and the hand that I was dealt.
I lived in the Baptist Children's Home until I was 18 and graduated from high school. There were 144 children at the orphanage, and every Christmas The Salvation Army would bring big trucks full of gifts for the children. We would watch with excitement and anticipation as the trucks were unloaded and the gifts placed under the Christmas tree on Christmas Eve.
I was blessed with some wonderful coaches and teachers who mentored and encouraged me to go to college. After graduating from high school, I worked in restaurants, washed storefront windows and built fences to help pay my college tuition.
I was awarded a partial scholarship for my participation in track in high school. I attended Howard Payne College in Brownwood and became a science teacher and a track and football coach at Jeff Davis High School in Houston.
Later, I became the director of facilities in the Clear Creek School District.
I was a hard worker, ambitious and had dreams of becoming a school administrator.
I attended classes at night at Sam Houston State and obtained a master's degree and became an assistant superintendent in the Alief School District in Houston.
One day, out of the clear blue, I received a call from the administrator of the Baptist Children's Home where I grew up. The administrator was retiring, and he asked me to become his replacement and take charge of 144 children.
And again, each Christmas, The Salvation Army trucks brought loads of toys for all the children in the home. Witnessing the approaching Salvation Army trucks was a flashback to the '50s when I was a child and watched the officers move with tender hearts and dedication serving all of us in every way possible. And finally, my gift again was to witness the happiness of 144 children receiving new toys and gifts. This was my true blessing!
I look forward again to work with The Salvation Army and the Christmas Distribution Center at Alamo Elementary in the Galveston Independent School District this holiday season.
GISD's new superintendent, Larry Nichols, has given The Salvation Army permission to use Alamo Elementary for the Christmas Distribution Center supporting gifts to needy children in Galveston and Bolivar during the month of December.
I now am 69 years young and still believe in the work of The Salvation Army and "what it does for humanity." I feel all the good deeds of The Salvation Army for those in need will be remembered for many years to come by those who have benefitted or heard about the organization.
Today, I am blessed with a lovely wife, four beautiful children and four grandchildren.
Being an orphan is not easy but also, this is a special category of people whom God shows special favor; God's children are not orphans! There are no orphans of God!
"Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."
Fred Niccum is director of facilities and maintenance for Galveston Independent School District.
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