PORT ANGELES — The Port Angeles office of the Salvation Army Corps found its new leaders right at home.
Majs. Cherilee and Scott Ramsey will lead the Port Angeles Salvation Army beginning today.
They are taking over for Majors Dana and Kathleen Johnson, who have been assigned to the Salvation Army Corps office in Sacramento, Calif.
The Ramseys have lived in Port Angeles for 10 years, Cherilee Ramsey said.
Before moving to Port Angeles, they had served as Salvation Army officers for 20 years in various places in California, most recently in Santa Barbara.
“We came to Port Angeles because we had kids in high school, and we wanted them to go to a small, nice, friendly high school,” Cherilee said. “We had relatives here. We visited and just loved the area and decided to take a break to let the kids attend a really good school.
“Now, we’re stepping back into officership, and we’re really excited about that.”
She has worked at the Salvation Army in Port Angeles for the last five years, while Scott Ramsey has worked as a loan processor in a mortgage office and as a sports officiate for the city Parks and Recreation Department.
The couple will oversee an expansion of the Salvation Army, which is at 206 S. Peabody St., into a building cater-corner from it, the former site of NAPA Auto Parts. The building will be refurbished into a new food kitchen and pantry, Cherilee Ramsey said.
Once city permits are completed, the renovation is expected to take six to eight months, she said.
Salvation Army offices will remain at their present location.
“We’re going to have a wonderful commercial kitchen and room for more people to eat,” Cherilee Ramsey said. “It’s going to benefit the people in Port Angeles who don’t have the finances to provide food for themselves.”
Kathleen Johnson said Saturday that she hoped she and her husband had made a difference in people’s lives during their three years in Port Angeles.
“I think we’ve reached more people,” she said. “We have about 3,000 a month that we are feeding now” with free meals.
She also is looking forward to the expansion of the Salvation Army into the new building, and she and her husband plan to return for the grand opening, whenever that may be,
The Salvation Army serves free meals Monday through Friday: breakfast from 8:45 a.m. to 9:15 a.m. and lunch from noon to 1 p.m.
From 80 to 120 people come to each meal, Cherilee Ramsey said.
The Salvation Army also operates a food bank and has church services at 11 a.m. Sunday.
For more information, phone 360-452-7679.
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Managing Editor/News Leah Leach can be reached at 360-417-3531 or at lleach@peninsuladailynews.com.
