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 the New York Times Best Seller list.
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.
The sponsor party served as an early marker of the Salvation Army of Coastal Alabama’s push into its busiest fundraising period of the year, when donations and volunteer support typically climb ahead of Christmas assistance programs like Angel Tree, which provides gifts to children in need throughout the Mobile area and surrounding counties.
Local nonprofit officials often point to events pairing well-known guests with personal stories as an effective way to connect donors emotionally with the organization’s mission heading into the holidays. For attendees at the Royal Street gathering, Wayne’s account offered a firsthand look at how the Angel Tree program can shape a child’s life well beyond the holiday season itself.
The Salvation Army of Coastal Alabama’s Annual Luncheon, where Wayne served as keynote speaker the next day, is typically one of the organization’s largest annual fundraising events in the Mobile area, helping fund year-round services alongside the seasonal Angel Tree campaign.