Beyond The Soup Kitchen: Salvation Army Music Classes In Rockland

New City NY

10 June, 2021

9:30 AM

Description

SUFFERN, NY — A Rockland County man recovering from traumatic injury found healing in music, all due to the Salvation Army's operation in Suffern. In addition to its soup kitchens and thrift shops, the Salvation Army has long been known for its bands. Less known, perhaps, is that it is one of the country's biggest providers of low-cost or free music lessons for children and adults. So though the coronavirus pandemic was a challenging time, the Salvation Army, found ways to make sure people still got the musical enrichment they love. Lt. Samuel Alvarez of the Suffern Corps first became interested in music when he was eight years old, playing on pots and pans like drums in his kitchen. This later developed into a serious interest in music, and he started learning how to play the trombone with The Salvation Army, then learned how to play the cornet in college. Later, he returned back to The Army to teach other young kids how to play instruments. When the pandemic shut everything down, Alvarez tried to find a way to continue the music program. He started giving lessons through Zoom and moved from instrument to instrument to teach his students. Fifteen months later, the music program is coming back, but slowly, he told Patch. "We are back at giving lessons at the Suffern Temple but not too many of the students are back yet, because some people are waiting for the current situation to get back to normal," he said. "They are coming back little by little." One of the returnees is Spring Valley resident Marlon Valdez, who joined The Salvation Army's music program after he fell from a four-story building. Physical therapy and surgeries were difficult, but he found a new motivation for life in playing the drums. "I had an accident in August 2017 in New Jersey that changed my life completely physically as mentally since that day I met God in the hospital when I was about to die," Valdez told Patch. "It was hard to be in hospitals and rehabilitation centers." While it's been a long journey through the years, he said, he found peace and tranquility in his growing faith. Alvarez was on a summer assignment to teach music lessons and Valdez started going. Alvarez took Valdez to the music store where he bought drums, drumsticks, and a music book. Music fills him with happiness, Valdez said, and it's a gift to offer up "so others can find peace, love, and hope."