TAMMY AND GERI: BEST FRIENDS AT THE SALVATION ARMY THROUGH THICK AND THIN: INTERNATIONAL FRIENDSHIP DAY 2021
Geri Kimmons left and Tammy Moore right.
Nearly 27 years after starting work together in The Salvation Army Midland Division’s St. Louis headquarters, Geri Kimmons and Tammy Moore have been best friends through good times and bad. It is that combination of happiness and grief that has made the friendship so enduring.
“There have just been so many things that have happened in our lives,” Moore said, sitting next to Kimmons, on July 30, also known as International Friendship Day. “We’ve lost parents and have always been there for each other. It’s not just asking, ‘Do you need anything?’ It’s actually being there.”
Moore started in the same office as Kimmons as her assistant in the 1990s, though it wasn’t long before Moore was reassigned to general fund accounting. Their friendship continued, helped by a long commute from their homes in Jefferson County to The Salvation Army St. Louis office. Moore knew she had a special friend.
“My mom passed away just months after I went to work here,” Moore said. “If it wasn’t for Geri, I don’t know how I would have gotten through it. When my daughter passed away, Geri would come by my house every day to make sure that I was ok.”
Kimmons said, “Every year on the day my husband passed away, she comes and gives me a big hug, every anniversary of his death.”
In 2021, Moore still works full time at the Midland Division’s headquarters as the corps accounting director, while Kimmons is partially retired, working three days weekly as a payroll accountant. They no longer have the daily 60-plus-mile roundtrip drive to work, but they continue to appreciate each other.
“One time, I told Geri, ‘If I ever wear anything that looks absolutely horrible on me, please tell me,’” Moore said. “She immediately said to me, ‘You know that brown outfit you have? Don’t wear it again.’ We have a very honest, very open relationship. I guess we just hit it off right away.”
Kimmons added, “She’s my best friend. I don’t have a whole lot of friends. I think it works because we do love each other, and we do trust each other.”
The United Nations General Assembly designated July 30 as International Friendship Day in 2011 to encourage cooperation between global citizens and across country borders.
The Salvation Army Midland Division recognizes our best friends, Kimmons and Moore, this International Friendship Day.