Capt. Mark Hunter had a successful career at American & Efird in Mount Holly when he and his wife decided to make a life change that would take them far from their Gaston County roots but one day bring them back to the place they love.
When it comes to the idea of paying it forward, the Hunters are believers. Feeling extremely fortunate for the life they had built for themselves and their young family, they wanted to make a difference in the lives of those around them. They found that calling in the Salvation Army.
For a number of years they had been attending services at the Salvation Army Church in Gastonia where they both volunteered with the youth and senior ministries. Lorie got a firsthand look at the difference the organization made in the community when she went to work there, first as a receptionist, then a case worker and later shelter director. Yet somehow that wasn’t enough.
So in 2004, they took a leap of faith and quit their jobs, packed up their children and headed to Atlanta to attend the Salvation Army’s officer training college. “We saw the need for strong leaders,” said Mark. “We felt like God laid it on our hearts to do this.”
They underwent 18 months of intensive training. The lessons they learned in the classroom were driven home by the work they did in the community where they saw the need for the Salvation Army firsthand.
Just like a military family, the Hunters found themselves living a fulfilling, but nomadic existence – serving in Columbia, S.C., Smithfield, Rocky Mount and Greenville before receiving orders to come to Gaston County to run the Salvation Army operation here.
During their time with the Salvation Army the Hunters say they’ve seen lives transformed, starting with their own.
“We were both products of broken homes,” says Mark. “I attribute our success to the Salvation Army.”
Married for 26 years, they see the impact being a family has had on their own children. Their 25-year-old daughter is a Salvation Army officer. In June, their 20-year-old daughter will marry and she and her husband-to-be will join the Salvation Army. Even their 11-year-old son has expressed an interest in the ministry.
“They’ve all seen lives transformed through the Salvation Army ministry,” said Hunter, 45. “They’ve seen it changing lives.”
There’s plenty more to the organization than bell ringers manning red kettles and the Empty Stocking Fund campaign. The Salvation Army church does everything a church on Main Street would do – from offering Sunday services to doing mission work to helping with disaster relief efforts locally and across the globe.
Hunter enjoys it when people come up to him in public and ask him about his uniform. It gives him an opportunity to explain what he does. “We care for a congregation. We marry people, conduct funerals, make hospital visits. We do everything a regular pastor would do.”
And they oversee an ambitious amount of programming, from operating a shelter, senior apartments, youth programs, and, of course, the annual Christmas Bureau that provides help and hope to those who have hit hard times during the holiday season. And that work continues throughout the year. “There’s not much in the community that we don’t touch in some fashion,” said Hunter.
The opportunity to return to Gaston County was a blessing to the family. He grew up in the Belmont-Mount Holly area and Lorie spent a good deal of her childhood in Gastonia and Belmont. They see their time here as a way of expressing their appreciation to the community that helped them become the people they are today.
It’s given us an opportunity to give back to the community that invested in us,” said Hunter.