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When she was a teenager, Carla Lindeman of Conger had an experience that stuck with her even to this day.

She said she grew up in a family that didn’t have much money, and she remembers one Christmas, her aunt put in an application for some toys and items for her family for the holiday from the Salvation Army. She remembers the things she got that year and now has the opportunity to pay that back as a volunteer with the organization.

“I’m a strong believer in the Salvation Army program,” Lindeman said. “It does help a lot of people.”

Kathy Belshan, business administrator with the Albert Lea Salvation Army, said Lindeman started volunteering in May 2021 and so far has logged almost 400 hours in the food pantry and in helping prepare food for the organization’s meal program.

Lindeman and her granddaughter have also helped with the toy shop the last two Christmas seasons.

Lindeman said she volunteers four hours one day a week — typically on Mondays —guiding families through a portion of the food pantry and then making sandwiches and scooping salads for the noon meal the following day. The Salvation Army gives out lunches Monday through Friday at its Corps. Office on Court Street.

“It’s pretty simple to make sandwiches and scoop salads, but it really does help,” she said. “There’s a need. There’s homeless people in Albert Lea and people that are working that can’t afford food — a lot of food insecurities.”

She said it feels good to be a part of the effort taking place in the community to feed the hungry but she recognizes there is much more work to be done.

She passes the word on to others she knows through her church and through the Alanon group she is a part of. Her church has regular food collections.

Retired from Fountain Centers in 2017, Lindeman said she worked 10 years as a detox counselor and two years as an outpatient counselor.

She and her husband, Allen, have three adult children and XX grandchildren.

She encouraged people to find something they like and volunteer to help that cause.

“There’s a lot of needs out there in our community,” Lindeman said. “With your interests or backgrounds, I encourage you to volunteer where you can and when you can because there is a big need out there.”

Lindeman recently also started volunteering through the Friends of the Library and sews quilts for Lutheran World Relief through her church, Bear Lake Concordia.