Early contributions to the Salvation Army’s kettle campaign in Sarnia are, at this point, lower than last year, but a local official says giving tends to grow in the weeks nearer to Christmas Day.
The campaign had collected $29,842.50 as of last weekend, which is about 19 per cent of the campaign’s goal of $160,000, said Lt. Brad Webster.
“It’s a little down from where we were last year at this time,” he said. “It’s the first couple of weeks, so we’re not overly concerned.”
The last weeks of the campaign usually see the largest number of donations, Webster noted.
“We’re a little bit behind but we have faith we’ll get there.”
Volunteers began manning the donation kettles on weekends as of Nov. 17 and then Monday to Saturday, 10 am to 9 pm, as of Dec. 1 at several of the locations.
The kettles will be out until Christmas Eve and manned for a half a day on Dec. 24 if the campaign goal hasn’t been reached by that point, Webster said.
The kettles are at locations in Sarnia and Corunna, including Lambton Mall, Metro Northgate, Canadian Tire, Walmart and the Real Canadian Superstore, he said.
He estimated “well over” 300 volunteers are needed to run the campaign each year.
“No pun intended, but it takes an army to get that kettle campaign going and get us through it,” Webster said.
The goal in Sarnia is up from the $140,000 target set in recent years, he said.
“Thankfully, we’ve surpassed that the last couple of years,” Webster said.
A total of $171,062.34 was collected last year.
“We live in probably one of the most generous communities I’ve been in,” Webster said. “Every cent that’s collected here in Sarnia stays in Sarnia to support the community.”
The decision was made to raise the goal this year since demand on the Salvation Army’s food bank and other community programs has increased, he said.
Those community and family services programs include medical, dental and eyeglass assistance, as well as rent and utility assistance, Webster said.
Appointments at its food bank are currently “booked solid” two or three days out, he said.
“Our shelves are getting barer and barer by the day,” and the agency has put out a call for non-perishable food donations to help restock its food bank, he said.
Dec.2 was the final day the Salvation Army was taking applications for this year’s Christmas food and gift hamper program.
More than 350 families had applied as of Nov. 30, Webster said.
That’s close to numbers from recent years, but Webster said they are seeing families applying for hampers this year who aren’t typical users of its food bank.
“They’re people who have a full-time job and they can’t make ends meet,” he said. “They can’t balance the cost of groceries today with the cost of bills. … It’s not a great thing to see.”
“We’re just glad we can be here to help.”