His dream of a new homeless shelter for the Island may not have come true, but Major Doug Lewis is leaving The Salvation Army believing he made a difference.

Major Lewis will say goodbye to the Island on Wednesday after four years with the charity.

"I hope that we have made a difference in somebody's life," he said. "Whether it is somebody that came through the Harbour Light programme, whether it is someone who is using the feeding programme. Whether it is someone who has come through our family services, [I hope] that we have been able to help them and get them financially looking after their bills and those sorts of things.

"I think that is what we feel most good about, it gives us the warm fuzzy knowing that we have helped someone."

The Canadian Divisional Commander arrived on the Island in 2006 and thereafter started his campaign to get the "old" and "outlived" shelter on North Street in Hamilton improved.

Today the building is still being held together with "bailing twine and duct tape", he admits, but Progressive Labour Party MP Dale Butler has joined the effort and plans to continue on with it.

Speaking of the work done by Major Lewis, Mr. Butler told The Royal Gazette: "He was very friendly a good listener and genuinely committed to his job and in particular the homeless.

"I worked closely with him and while I am disappointed we did not have a groundbreaking [for a new shelter] during his tenure we were able to get plans drawn.

"Major Lewis used his wise counsel judiciously and it was beneficial in making progress. He will certainly be missed. He joins the ranks of numerous Majors who seem to possess a variety of skills enabling them to work effectively in the community."

Major Lewis beamed from ear to ear as he announced the Bermuda chapter had this year raised the most ever in its 100-year history a staggering $864,000.

More than $800,000 of the cash raised went to assisting the charity's feeding, homelessness and food bank programmes.

Major Lewis said: "What we are finding is as the demand [in need] has increased the people have responded and it is not always the exempt companies that are doing it.

"It is the blue collar worker that has responded to look after their neighbour. So many increased their donations and I think that is indicative of the Bermuda people. They have a concern for their fellow man and they have responded."

Kirk Kitson, president of the Kitson Group of Companies, learned of Major Lewis' ambitious plan for fund-raising two years ago. He worked alongside the charity to help it reach its goal.

"I encouraged Doug to bring the activities of The Salvation Army into the light of the Bermuda public and he proved to be unbelievably confident in orchestrating the organisation publicly," he said.

"He is very much an extrovert, very comfortable with people and talking about the work of the Salvation Army with the press, which has helped to impart the view of the Army while he was here."

In Major Lewis' time on the Island, he helped implement a second phase to The Salvation Army's drug rehabilitation programmes.

Now addicts aren't immediately living on their own after treatment. And they are allowed to work while getting full-time counselling in the Dreaming in Colours programme.

Major Lewis has also managed to expand the charity's two feeding programmes. And with a new mobile canteen on its way, The Salvation Army is expecting to do a "bigger and better job" feeding the Island's homeless in the future.

"What we try and do is find the cracks in society in services and to fill in that gap," said Major Lewis, an ordained pastor for 38 years.

While here, he met with the Bermuda Housing Corporation and worked to set up transitional housing for $400 a month. The housing plan could help the Island's 250 to 300 homeless people get back on their feet, but the scheme is still in its early stages.

According to Major Lewis, a great concern is that The Salvation Army has not been able to tackle the breakdown of the family unit.

"I think all of these other social ills spring out of that," he said. "We have fathers who don't take responsibility, we have single-parent families trying to raise children, we have grandparents trying to raise children. We have two spouses working, we have latch key children now after school being unattended.

"I am not sure we have done enough for families, to strengthen families as we possibly could have or should have or need to do. And I think that is becoming more evident now with all of the violence that is going on and all of the churches coming together. I think that is the area we need to start concentrating on."

Major Lewis and his wife, Major Betty Ann, came to the Island in July 2006, after working with The Salvation Army in Nassau, Bahamas and Germany.

During their time in Bermuda they admit to falling in love with the friendliness and honesty of the people and say they quickly felt like they belonged.

"The people have been great," he said.

He said both he and his wife felt they were accepted by, and allowed to be a part of, the community, adding: "I think we became very Bermudian. We put the tape down on the May 24 parade and marked our spot on the sidewalk and we took our canopy and those kinds of things."

There are things Major Lewis will miss when he leaves the Island to take on a new post with The Salvation Army Headquarters in Canada.

"The freedom of worship that we have here, the freedom to talk to people on the street and say good morning, to know your neighbour those are the kind of things that don't take place in some of the larger centres and cities. We are going to miss that aspect."

Major Lewis will be replaced by Major Shawn Critch, from Toronto, Canada. He said he is confident Major Critch will move the projects he started forward.

All-in-all, Major Lewis is hopeful he accomplished the charity's mission "to save souls, grow saints and serve suffering humanity".

"We are unashamedly religious, we are unashamedly Christian, and that's why we do what we do because [of our mission] 'heart to God, hand to man'. So because of our concern for our fellow man that's how we get involved with the people that have special need or a different kind of need.

"Because of our concern for the fellow man, we advocate on their behalf and that is why we try and do what we can to alleviate suffering in the world.

"So if we can make a difference in one person's life we have been successful," he said.