Country Singer Jimmy Wayne Shares Salvation Army Story at Downtown Mobile Fundraiser
Country singer Jimmy Wayne performed and shared his Salvation Army ties at a downtown Mobile kickoff for the group holiday fundraising season.
The Salvation Army of Coastal Alabama opened its holiday fundraising season with a sponsor party in downtown Mobile, drawing about 75 guests, including project sponsors and some of the families the organization has assisted over the years.
The Tuesday evening gathering, held at a media office building on Royal Street, featured country singer-songwriter Jimmy Wayne, who performed a few songs on guitar and fielded questions from both adults and children in the crowd. Wayne was in town ahead of his role as keynote speaker at The Salvation Army’s Annual Luncheon the following day.
Wayne, whose debut book “Paper Angels” offers a fictionalized account of his own childhood, told the audience he grew up receiving Christmas gifts through the Salvation Army’s Angel Tree program. He described his mother as someone who “relied heavily on The Salvation Army” during difficult stretches of his upbringing, and he recalled the discomfort of filling out assistance paperwork as a child. “It was very embarrassing,” Wayne said. “I remember that feeling of standing in line and asking someone for help.”
One especially formative memory involved a social worker who, when Wayne was 14, used the Angel Tree program to buy him his first guitar, an instrument that would eventually shape his career as a recording artist. Wayne went on to release a string of country hits before shifting toward writing, with his second book, “Walk to Beautiful,” reaching national best-seller lists.
During the party, guests were served hors d’oeuvres prepared in the Salvation Army’s own kitchen, and Wayne closed out part of his set with a cover of “Sara Smile” before turning the conversation back to what the organization has meant in his own life.
About Angel Tree and Jimmy Wayne
The Salvation Army’s Angel Tree program began in 1979 in Lynchburg, Virginia, where Majors Charles and Shirley White worked with a shopping mall to set up a tree with tags describing children in need. Shoppers choose a tag and buy gifts for that child.
Wayne, who spent much of his childhood in and out of foster homes, walked about 1,660 miles from Nashville, Tennessee, to Phoenix, Arizona, in 2010 to raise awareness of young people who age out of the foster care system.
