Security, sobriety and support: Salvation Army boosters join forces at Table of Hope event (2024)

Progress and problems were in the local Salvation Army's spotlight during the final few hours of May, as the organization had its leaders and more than 100 boosters gathered for a banquet at Lessie B. Price Aiken Senior and Youth Center.

The charity's annual Table of Hope fundraiser, billed as "an evening of hope for the homeless," was one of the final major local events under the leadership of Capt. Randull Tiller and Capt. April Tiller. The husband-and-wife team who have helped guide Salvation Army programs in Edgefield, Barnwell, Allendale and Aiken counties since June 2018 are preparing for a leadership post in another state.

Emphasis at the May 31 gathering was largely on a drive to improve the charity's Park Avenue facility, which provides free room and board for thousands of guests in the course of a year and has been the subject of discussion about possible expansion.

Randull Tiller said the banquet's focus was mainly on "services to the homeless — specifically, a better facility, better opportunities, fellowship for them, resources and drawing awareness to the problem, and specifically the… only shelter of its kind that serves families, men, women and children in this area."

Diners atthe event included at least one with an exceptionally strong, first-hand appreciation for the Salvation Army's programs. Columbia native Alfred Good, a former shelter resident, recalled a rocky road that led him as an adult back to Aiken, the community where he spent most of his childhood.

"I hadn't been home in over 12 years. I've been in recovery, and I finally got sober three years ago, and I came to the Salvation Army in Aiken because I was homeless, and I got my first home in 25 years," said Good, who now works at the organization's thrift store on Richland Avenue.

"God blessed me through the Salvation Army, and I'm still sober. I love the Salvation Army very much."

Clarke McCants II, chairman of the local organization's advisory board, acknowledged the situation "where we have citizens in our communities that live without shelter and live without food and live literally without basic human needs."

He described the Friday assembly as "the exception to what I think is going on in a lot of places in this country, where cities are not stepping up, and you being here tonight shows that this community, this city, this county and the adjoining counties that the Salvation Army of Aiken serves ... has that concern."

Randull Tiller, addressing the gathering, said he appreciates boosters' ongoing support "for people that you don't even know… because without individuals like you, there's no way that the Salvation Army would be able to do the things that we have done here in Aiken, so God bless you, and please keep being the people that you are."

One booster estimated the evening's donations as totalling more than $120,000. Options for participants included a variety of culinary creations, a raffle, dancing and a live auction, with Salvation Army booster Andrew Siders handling the rapid-fire offers.

The soundtrack for the evening was courtesy of The Experiment and the I-20 Horns, promoted as "a seven-piece ensemble known for their eclectic set lists that span many genres and eras."

Assisting the Tillers on the planning committee for this year's event were Karen Lamberton, Michelle Raab, Vicki Wheeler, Muriel Gouffray, Sarah Malaby, Bernice Miller and Karen Olsen Edwards — "ladies who work tirelessly from year to year," in the words of April Tiller.

Handling culinary duty was chef Jimmy Hicks, whose operation is known asThe Deft Chef,promoted as one of the Aiken-Augusta area's "few chef-owned, professionally-trained, full-service catering companies for private and corporate functions."