Judy Duke would rather talk about what others do and need and can achieve with just a little help rather than about herself.

“OK,” the chairwoman of the La Plata County Salvation Army board said, “you can write about me, but make it mostly about the Salvation Army.”

Duke, 70, has lived a life of service, including teaching special education at Durango High School; in her longtime support of an impoverished village in Zimbabwe; delivering Christmas gifts and needed items to the Southwest Safehouse; helping bright young people from Africa build lives in America, starting with an education at Fort Lewis College; and volunteering at Habitat for Humanity.

“I often think how lucky I am. I had parents who really loved me,” she said, “I lucked out in the lottery of life, most of all being born in America, and then I live in Durango, what could be better? I really appreciate this community, and feel like I have a very privileged life.”

Duke moved to Durango from Chicago in 1982.

“We didn’t like the corporate world and wanted to raise our kids in a smaller town,” she said. “My husband came home with an ad for a business here, and I was in a bad mood because I‘d never even heard of this place.”

It didn’t take long for her to call it home.

“I just love the spirit of the people here,” Duke said, “Everybody’s so cheerful and giving. I love how they thank the bell ringers for ringing. One woman gets $100 in $1 bills at the beginning of the season and puts a donation in every kettle she passes because it supports the ringer. Others send big checks anonymously.”

‘Both local and global’

Duke’s giving philosophy, whether it’s money, energy, time or connecting people, is simple.

“I believe we should do both local and global,” she said. “In Zimbabwe, children were fainting in school from hunger, so now I pay for lunch for 350 children every day. It’s not expensive, about $1 per month per child, because they serve simple food, cornmeal and peanut butter they grind for protein.”

For many, it’s the only meal they get, she said, and attendance has gone up since lunch was made available.

Duke is not shy about reaching out to other donors in the community for help. The Methodist Thrift Shop donated a roof to the younger children’s school building in the village because they could not hold classes when it rained.

While she had rung the Salvation Army bell for many years, she never thought much about how the money was distributed, she said. Then longtime Salvation Army board member Deanna Devereaux asked Duke to be on the board, and she said, “Why not?” Duke has been on the Salvation Army board for six years, three as chairwoman.

The five weeks of the kettle campaign, while labor-intensive, are the most time-consuming part of the commitment, but there is ongoing supervision of expenditures and coordination with all the organizations Salvation Army supports. She’s currently looking at additional programs to support former prisoners as they work to reintegrate into the community.

Some requests particularly touch Duke’s heart. Watching her mother struggle financially as she aged gave Duke a soft spot for seniors and problems they face on fixed incomes.

“I wasn’t able to help her then because I didn’t have the means,” she said. “When an older person comes to the Community Emergency Assistance Coalition for help, like buying tires because she’s afraid to drive the car to the doctor, they laugh and say, ‘Judy will always help an older person.’”

A program to provide dentures is one of many Duke has encouraged the local Salvation Army service unit to adopt.

“I was over at affordable housing the other day,” she said, “and a man told me he was so excited to be getting a new set of dentures. I didn’t tell him the Salvation Army probably paid for those dentures, but I asked him to tell me what the dentures meant to him. He said he could tell me in two words: ‘Self-esteem.’”

Duke does not want to be singled out as an übervolunteer.

“I just do what I see. I’m not some kind of saint, I don’t feel like I overdo it,” she said with a laugh. “I travel a lot, and there are lots of days when I just have myself to think about.”

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Where does the Salvation Army money go?

La Plata County residents drop money in the Salvation Army’s distinctive red kettles throughout the holiday season.
The nonprofit uses the money raised all year long to help people with basic needs, such as shelter, food, car repairs and medical help.
While there’s no official count on how many people are helped each year, it’s hundreds and hundreds, said La Plata County Salvation Army board chairwoman Judy Duke.
About half the money – $120,000 was raised in 2014 – goes to the Community Emergency Assistance Coalition, which meets weekly to review applications.
“There are so many people in this community who are working full time and supporting children, spouses, extended family, but whose situation is fragile,” said Terri Oliver, a Salvation Army board member, “and any unexpected illness or injury puts everything in jeopardy. It is really heart-wrenching when children are involved.”
Every application is vetted, and the organization keeps a spreadsheet to make sure no individual is helped more than once each year.
“We never give cash,” Duke said. “We are the stewards of the community’s money. We’re all volunteers, with very few administrative costs – about $1,000 annually.”
Manna Soup Kitchen manages the voucher program for the Salvation Army, which can include support for gas, prescriptions and similar expenses.
“We give out thousands of bus tokens for city transit,” Duke said. “A dollar per trip may not seem like much to us, but if you ride it 10 times a week to go to and from work, that’s $10 a week, and that’s too much for people working for low wages. And we like that Manna asks everyone it helps to work a little for it, even if it’s just wiping down tables.”
About $2,500 goes to the Boys and Girls Club of La Plata County, and staff takes students who need new shoes or other necessities shopping.
Prison ministry has traditionally been a Salvation Army cause. The service unit provides transitional housing for one La Plata County resident at a time as they re-enter the community. The nonprofit is currently looking at other ways to help people who have served their time rebuild their lives.
The 2015 campaign is up a few thousand dollars over 2014, in part because of higher kettle donations on Black Friday and Noel Night.
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To support the Salvation Army

The Salvation Army bell-ringing campaign continues from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. through Christmas Eve at both City Markets, Walmart and Star Liquors.
La Plata Electric Association held a “Stuff the Kettle” green chile lunch on Dec. 16 at the cooperative’s Durango headquarters to benefit the Salvation Army. A spokeswoman said it was a successful event.
Checks to the Salvation Army may be mailed year-round to P.O. Box 3296, Durango, CO 81301.
This item was updated to correct the date of the green chile lunch.