This April, Lt. Col. Paul E. Bollwahn, Divisional Commander of The Salvation Army's Southern California Divison, was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Association of Social Workers for decades of leadership in a wide variety of social service endeavors.

The National Association of Social Workers has a Code of Ethics that is accessible on its website. There you will find its mission statement that says in part, the purpose of the organization in general and social work in particular is “…to enhance human well-being and help meet the basic human needs of all people, with particular attention to the needs and empowerment of people who are vulnerable, oppressed, and living in poverty.”
 
For the past four decades, Lt. Colonel Paul E. Bollwahn has embodied that mission statement while remaining true to the precepts of The Salvation Army to “preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and to meet human needs in His name without discrimination.”

Colonel Bollwahn has testified before Senatorial committees and worked with coalitions and the USDA on food scarcity for the poor, advocating product research, food recovery, and greater organizational competence and utilization of the food bank system. He organized goodwill tours in conjunction with The Salvation Army’s USA delegate attendees at internal conferences on Social Welfare in Cape Town, Rotterdam, Jerusalem, Helsinki, and Kuala Lumpur.
 

Most recently, Colonel Bollwahn has devoted his energies and social work expertise to the Southern California Division of The Salvation Army.