When Markel and Carrie Banks arrived at their Salvation Army post in Homestead in July, there were no programs for them to run.

	Pam Panchak/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
	Capt. Markel Banks and his wife, Capt. Carrie Banks with their son Levi, 13 weeks, in the recreation room of the Homestead Salvation Army post last week.

They weren't at all daunted, for they are young, energetic and passionate about their work. They hit the deck running and opened the doors to an after-school program in October.

On the first day, no children showed up, even though there is no charge to attend. On the second day, two children attended. But in the past four months, the after-school roster has grown to 20 elementary school pupils.

The couple also has started holding Sunday services.

"We have 14 members so far," Markel Banks said. "Of course, that includes our family."

On Feb. 2, renovation work began in the gymnasium, which has been unusable for more than a year. Repairs should be completed next week, providing a badly needed recreational outlet in a community that has very few.

Markel and Carrie Banks have high hopes and big plans to do even more.

"We're young, and sometimes we have to remind ourselves to take things one day at a time" Carrie Banks said.

He's 25, she's 24, and they have three sons: Kyle, 3; Braden, 2; and Levi, 13 weeks.

The baby's biblical name seemed apt to the couple "because he was conceived while we were in seminary school," Carrie Banks said.

The couple attended the Salvation Army School For Officers Training in Suffern, N.Y. They are now ministers in the Salvation Army, each with a rank of captain. They were assigned to the Homestead post when they completed the two-year seminary program.

The Salvation Army is at the corner of Ninth Avenue and West Street in Homestead. The family lives in Munhall.

"We enjoy this community completely," Markel Banks said. "We are blessed to be able to come here."

Carrie Banks said residents of Homestead and Munhall had been welcoming, friendly and supportive.

The couple has been enthusiastically involved in Steel Valley community activities, including Community Unity, Light Up Night and parades.

Different paths led each to the Salvation Army.

Markel Banks lived in Homewood as an infant and his family moved around to a number of other city neighborhoods. But when he was a teenager, "my family was homeless for a time."

While living in a shelter, he had the opportunity to attend a Salvation Army youth camp.

"If my family had not been homeless, I never would have met up with the Salvation Army," he said. "I struggled as a teenager and the Salvation Army saved me, especially Elvie Carter," who is now a Salvation Army captain on the North Side of Pittsburgh. "He was my mentor."

Carrie Banks grew up in Oakmont and was a student at Geneva College when the Salvation Army was recruiting. She signed up to work at Camp Allegheny, a Salvation Army facility near Elwood City which serves 2,000 children each year.

"I didn't even know the Salvation Army was a church. I thought they just ran camps for children," Carrie Banks said.

"I was dating a guy who took me to church with him, and I just loved it. He introduced me to a friend of his -- Markel. I was 18 when we met."

To return to the more immediate past, Carrie Banks was well into her pregnancy when the family arrived in the Mon Valley, making the Christmas season an especially busy and interesting time for the family.

Levi was born Nov. 14, just as the Salvation Army "kettle season" was getting started.

"It was rough," Carrie Banks said. "We had to rent a car because the van was being used round the clock to drop off and pick up kettles" that are a major fund-raiser for the Salvation Army. "I wasn't much help with the kettles this year, though I was down here sorting Christmas toys the week after Levi was born."

Meanwhile, the new after-school program was under way.

"There are just the three of us running the program," Markel Banks said. The third person is Karweemah "Kay" Bolton, who also fills in wherever needed, including answering the phone at the front desk. Cindy Graham does some volunteer work with the after-school program.

One of the couple's top priorities is recruiting volunteers so that programs can grow and expand.

The after-school program runs from 3 to 4:30 p.m. on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays and until 7 p.m. on Wednesdays and Fridays.

Children get help with their homework when they arrive.

Then they can go to the game room, where there are toys, a pool table and a big screen television. Soon they'll be able to use the gym.

On Wednesdays and Fridays, the "supper club" runs until 7 p.m. The children are given a hot meal and a Bible study session.

The Salvation Army has been in Homestead for more than 100 years, making it one of the oldest posts in the Army's 28-county Western Pennsylvania division.

Salvation Army posts are responsible for doing most of their own fund-raising. The Western Pennsylvania division raised $11 million in the mid-90s during a capital campaign.

Some of that money was allocated for earlier renovations at the Homestead building.

More funds were also allocated to cover repairs to the gym.

The Bankses can be contacted at the Homestead post, 412-461-2460.