Army of None...

Very simply put, this is a bullshit maneuver by The RI Salvation Army.

SALVATION ARMY CUTS TIES WITH CANTEEN VOLUNTEER GROUP

PROJO 12:20 PM Tue, May 05, 2009 Thomas J. Morgan

CRANSTON, R.I. -- The Salvation Army on Tuesday severed its ties with the Special Signal Association, a group of volunteers who for decades had driven canteen trucks to fires and other disasters to provide food and drink for firefighters. It was a development that riled the volunteers.

The trucks may have been familiar to bystanders at fires and other public safety emergencies around Rhode Island, but it was not widely recognized that the trucks, one painted red, the other white, equipped with emergency lights and carrying Fire Department logos, actually were not official vehicles.

Maj. Doug Burr, the Salvation Army's state coordinator, said in a news release that because of a budget squeeze, the organization had decided to sell the building at 34 Commercial St. in Pawtuxet Village, where the two canteen trucks are housed.

Burr said the trucks would be shifted to another garage and would be staffed by Salvation Army volunteers. "It is the Salvation Army's desire that no break in service be noticeable," he said.

That statement did not sit well with Paul J. O'Rourke, president of the Special Signal Fire Association, who has been running the trucks for 17 years when he is not on duty with the Providence Police Department. He said that Burr told him the Salvation Army was changing the locks on the building housing the trucks.

After meeting with Burr Tuesday morning, O'Rourke said, "Burr says he is going to use his own people to man the truck, but they're not going do it like we did it. They are only going out on something real big. When a house fire comes, they ain't gonna show up."

O'Rourke, who has been a police officer for 38 years, said he averaged 25 to 30 hours a week with the canteen trucks. "When I wasn't doing police, I was doing canteen," he said.

"They threw us out," was the reaction of Raymond Hull, a Providence police sergeant and treasurer of the Special Signal Association, who also met with Burr Tuesday.

"Paul [O'Rourke] got me on board a good seven years ago," Hull said. "I only went on board because I realized what Paul did for the police and fire. As a cop, you need an outlet. Here, you drive a big truck and help somebody."

Hull paid tribute to "the many men and women who gave their time and effort for free."
"They didn't ask for anything. We didn't get paid. We just enjoyed it for what we did," he said.

Hull said that after hearing the news, "a lot of guys are hurting. The meeting with the Salvation Army could have happened on a better note. They gave us no notice: 'You're done.' That's what really hurts. I can understand the Salvation Army's reasoning. They want to do it differently? Fine. It's their equipment, their trucks. I don't fault the Salvation Army in any way. I'm just hurt with how we were treated."

Hull vowed that this would not be the end of the Special Signal Association. He said members would continue to provide a service even if they had to use their own vehicles. "There is a need for service out there for police and fire, and for anyone who asks for us and needs help," he said.

O'Rourke said the Special Signal Association has been associated with the Salvation Army since 1969.

He said that when he joined in 1992 or 1993, the trucks were averaging 12 runs a year. He said he reorganized the system and lately had been tallying 500 runs a year. "A fire, a disaster, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Connecticut -- we always responded," O'Rourke said.

He said the organization has about 70 members, of whom 25 to 30 work the trucks. "Everyone signs up for a day or night, and the trucks were managed 24 hours, 7 days a week," he said.

O'Rourke said the white truck was donated by the state Emergency Management Agency. The red truck was donated by civic organizations and foundations. The garage where they were housed was donated for $1 by the Pawtuxet Volunteer Fire Department, he said, many of whose volunteers also were members of the Special Signal Association.