When people think of The Salvation Army, they might picture an older person, perhaps dressed up as Santa Claus, ringing a bell and collecting donations in the group’s famous red kettle. The Christian organization is not commonly known as a group that engages with young professionals.
Neetu Wadhwani, a 25-year-old Hindu woman who works in Boston’s tech scene, is one of the local young people reshaping this image.
“People seem to think with the Salvation Army that because it is a Christian, religious organization, some people from different faiths are a bit apprehensive to join. But at the end of the day, it comes down to oneness and humanity,” said Wadhwani, who works in business strategy and account management for Uber Eats. “It is the ability to truly do good. To be part of a really good ripple effect.”
The Salvation Army recently formalized the opening of a Boston Echelon chapter, a group of diverse, young professionals (ages 23-38) who engage with the organization through networking, volunteering and fundraising.
There are 26 active Echelon chapters across the country with over 700 members, per The Salvation Army. The Boston group has about six members and became a formalized chapter this month.
Boston Echelon member Grace Lynch is not new to volunteering with The Salvation Army. Her dad has been involved with the organization for as long as she can remember, she said, including serving on its Greater Boston advisory board. She used to be one of the people collecting donations during the red kettle campaigns. But even she lost touch with the organization as she got older.
“Through growing up and through going off to college, I kind of naturally lost touch with the team there,” Lynch said. “So when I heard about Echelon, a group that was really motivated to bring in that next generation of volunteers, I immediately knew that was something that I want to do and want to help shape.”
Lynch said she’s been involved in the background helping get this Boston group going for a few years during the pandemic, but the group has started to grow more quickly in the last few months.
Lynch is a senior communications manager at Amplitude and works remotely from her home in Dorchester. She said other Echelon members work in areas like finance, sales and communications. One of her goals is to build membership and increase the diversity of roles represented in the group.
“What I loved about this is at our core, we have the same mission as The Salvation Army, which is do the most good,” Lynch said. “When you have that common ground with people, to me it’s made the networking more meaningful and more enjoyable.”
Lynch and Wadhwani agreed that another benefit of working with The Salvation Army was the ability to use its vast resources.
The Echelon group is involved with current Salvation Army programs like its Christmas Castle toy giveaway in Dorchester. But the group is also looking for ways to expand its impact in Greater Boston.
“Now it’s kind of, how do we build upon those events? And how do we make sure that we, specifically as Echelon, as a part of The Salvation Army, are supporting families year-round and not just around the holidays,” Lynch said. “So, I think there’s lots we can potentially do there.”
The original photo caption for this article misidentified the nonprofit hosting its annual luncheon.
