The strong response to a call for volunteers is helping the Salvation Army stay on track for another successful Christmas Kettle Campaign in the Sarnia area.
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The strong response to a call for volunteers is helping the Salvation Army stay on track for another successful Christmas Kettle Campaign in the Sarnia area.
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The campaign officially launched in late November, and its red kettles will be out until noon on Dec. 24 at locations around the Sarnia area to accept donations to help the Salvation Army provide community and family services through the coming year. Among the programs funded by the campaign are the Salvation Army’s food bank, its shelter and rehabilitation supports, disaster relief, rent and utility bill assistance, and help with dental bills, prescriptions and eye glasses.
When the kettles began appearing at shopping centers around the community in November, local campaign co-ordinator Brenda Dunn said there were still vacancies in the more than 700 shifts on the schedule, as some volunteers from past campaigns decided against returning this year because of the ongoing pandemic.
“We have just been so fortunate,” Dunn said Friday while providing an update. “We’ve had 25 new volunteers come forward and help us out.”
Several signed up for additional shifts after their initial experience manning one of the campaign’s donation kettles, she said.
“We’ve never had this many shifts booked at the end of a campaign before,” Dunn said.
Calls from potential volunteers were still coming in a few days ago, she said.
“It’s amazing.”
The campaign’s volunteer slots are now all booked right through this coming weekend and the following week, Dunn said.
The campaign has a total of 110 volunteers this year filling the two-hour shifts manning kettles for several hours a day, Monday through Saturday until Christmas Eve.
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Dunn said some new volunteers told her they had always wanted to help out with the Christmas Kettle Campaign and several have already asked to be included on the list for next year.
Dunn said she’s impressed with the way volunteers responded to the call for help.
“If you ask, they give their time,” she said.
New volunteers include recent withdrawals, individuals seeking alternatives because the pandemic interrupted other volunteer opportunities and students looking for volunteer hours, Dunn said.
“It’s just such a giving community,” she said. “It’s just so wonderful that Sarnia responds.”
About $ 109,000 had been collected by the local campaign, as of Friday, and Dunn said she was feeling confident it will reach this year’s goal of $ 140,000.
The Sarnia-area Christmas Kettle Campaign surpassed its goal in each of the past two years.
“The community takes care of the community,” Dunn said.