Creating Ripples

Making Waves Sebastian Galvez helped start New Jersey’s first Echelon Chapter for young professionals. 

Sebastian Galvez, president of The Salvation Army’s Echelon Chapter in Morristown, N.J., talks about his gap year after high school, a pet contest on social media that introduced people to the Army’s work, and the power of an act of kindness. 

When someone is young and ambitious, they might want to do something that will change the world or help millions of people all at once. But I’ve come to realize that my own world was changed through a single act of kindness, a college scholarship from the United Way. That opened a door to me working at Johnson & Johnson, establishing my career, and eventually connecting to The Salvation Army. We don’t always need to look at the good we do from a large scale. Instead, ask what each of us can do for our co-worker, our neighbor, or even a stranger from our community. Mother Teresa once said, “I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the water to create many ripples.” The Salvation Army understands this; it’s full of people who create ripples in the water every day. 

Echelon held a fundraiser where people submitted photos of their pets and paid a contest entry fee. It was a successful fundraiser because people love their pets and showing them off. The whole contest was done through Instagram and helped us increase our presence on social media. Everyone learned about The Salvation Army and where their entry fee went. The first year we did it, the money helped pay for children to attend the corps’ summer camp. The second year, it funded our back-to-school backpack drive. Young people like connecting with nonprofits through social media, and our Instagram is constantly updating them. 

After high school, my parents couldn’t afford college for me, so I took a gap year. I was angry at the world. I thought I had gotten the short end of the stick and what I truly wanted didn’t matter. But I see now that everything happens for a reason. I wasn’t traveling or backpacking like some of my friends, but instead, I worked long hours in cafeterias and at other small jobs to save for school. It was one of the toughest times in my life, but it gave me an incredible perspective on how hard my parents worked when they left a comfortable life in El Salvador to start over in the United States. What I did for a year, they did for over a decade. 

Belonging to the Morristown Echelon Chapter is one of my favorite experiences in The Salvation Army. I was already one of the youngest members of the Morristown Corps advisory board when I offered to start the Echelon Chapter of Morristown. I had worked with other young professionals at Johnson & Johnson, and I knew there was a lot of interest in getting a chapter started. Morristown became New Jersey’s first Echelon chapter, with Trenton soon following. I believe the best way to get people passionate about The Salvation Army is to get them in the building. It’s easy to get hooked on the Army’s mission when you see work getting done in the community, or children playing at day care.

Philippians chapter 2, verse 3, says, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves.” As I grow in my career and in my own blessings, I know that I’m no better than anyone else, and that others have faced many more difficulties than me. How can I be the best representation of Jesus’ love and grace to those people? By using the resources and opportunities that I’ve been blessed with to make the lives of others easier.