“People always ask me, ‘Why do you work for the Army?’ ” Mallory Janes says. “I always reply, ‘It feels like home. I keep coming back because it’s a part of me. I believe in what the Army does and the changes we help to create, and it’s important for me to be a part of that change.”

From Coast to Coast

“I’m an officer’s kid, born and bred,” says Janes.

She was born in Newfoundland and Labrador, where her parents were stationed, but the family crisscrossed the country several times in the course of their ministry.

“It’s been a very unique life,” Janes says. “Growing up in The Salvation Army was always interesting, never a dull moment. We’ve been around almost coast to coast. I haven’t gotten to Vancouver yet, but I will get there one day.”

Lining Up

From early on, Janes was an enthusiastic part of The Salvation Army.

“I started volunteering as a kid on the kettles at Christmastime and helping out with packing hampers,” she says. “When I was 16, I spent two summers as a camp counsellor at Scotian Glen Camp in Nova Scotia.”

"You can't be in the Army and not want to help people." - MALLORY JANES

After college, Janes interned in the public relations department of the then Maritime Division. When her parents were transferred from Nova Scotia to Ontario, she moved with them and worked in the youth department at divisional headquarters as an administrative assistant. And when they were appointed to Fort McMurray, Alta., in 2016, she joined them.

“It was an easy move, because my sister and her husband had just found out they were going to have a baby, so it all lined up,” says Janes.

“My parents have since been reappointed to Lloydminster, Alta., where they hope to retire,” she continues. “But I’ve been here for almost 10 years now, and my sister and her husband live down the street!”

Great Change

“Not long after moving to Fort McMurray, an administrative position opened up at the community services centre here, and I’ve been there ever since,” Janes says.

While she worked in different capacities, including a time as fund development co-ordinator, she gradually found herself attracted to the human relations side of things, and is now a senior associate in the HR service centre.

Janes is very excited about The Salvation Army’s transition to Workday, the online software that will be a front-line support for managers and employees, and will help manage TheSalvation Army’s payroll, timesheets and benefits. (For more information on Workday, see “A New Day is Coming” on salvationist.ca: https://salvationist.ca/articles/a-new-day-is-coming/.)

“It’ll make things a lot more efficient and streamlined,” she says. “I know many people are nervous about the change, but as someone who enjoys technology and the things we can do with it, I can’t wait to see how this will help the Army world. And I’m helping people across Canada and Bermuda! I think it’s going to be a great change for the Army.”

Positivity

“You can’t be in the Army and not want to help people,” says Janes. “When I started training for the human relations position, I found my groove. I felt productive; I was providing support, and it gave me the feeling of satisfaction that I could see the support I was giving completed from start to finish.

“I’m an organized person, so getting in there and having things I need to complete every day, that I know are going to be successful at the end, is a positive thing for me,” she continues.

“That’s what keeps me going.”