In response to the recent burglary at the Salvation Army Service Center and Thrift Store in Troy, surveillance cameras are being installed in the store.

Kim May, director of the local Salvation Army branch, said the cameras are being installed primarily as a deterrent to future break-ins and they will also be a discouragement to those who are “borrowing” items that are dropped off at the Thrift Store when the store is closed.

“On Sundays, we often have people drop off items at the store,” May said. “Someone will come along and go through the items and take what they want and scatter the rest. So, the surveillance cameras will serve a dual purpose.”

May said members of the Salvation Army’s advisory board provided the funding for the purchase of the cameras.

Requests for assistance from the Salvation Army are up slightly but the center is not able to provide as much assistance as in the past.

“We always have a large number of requests for assistance with rent and utility bills at this time of the year,” May said. “Assistance requests come from those who are out of work, from single parent homes and the elderly. We are doing what we can to help but we have not received any funding from the EFSP (Emergency Food and Shelter Program) this year so we are short in that area. Probably, most of the funds available through the EFSP went to disaster victims.”

Every cloud has a silver lining and that silver lining for the Salvation Army was the donation of an RV by Homer and Barbara Homann of Brundidge.

“The RV was in excellent condition with only 58,000 miles,” May said. “We sold it for $8,000 that went into our general fund and that was huge for us. Without that donation, we would be very limited in the assistance that we could provide.”

The Salvation Army Thrift Shop has all of its women’s clothing on sale.

“It’s a ‘buy one, get one free’ sale in an effort to reduce the summer stock,” May said.

“We have a good selection of clothes for women and girls and we invite the public to stop and shop for some of the best deals around. We depend on the sales in the Thrift Store for so many of the things that we do. We always appreciate saleable items and cash donations are always needed and appreciated.”