The tell-tale sound of the jingle bells lets you know the Salvation Army’s annual Christmas Kettle Campaign is in full swing.
First used in St. John’s, Newfoundland, in 1906, today there are more than 2,000 kettles collecting donations across the country, including the 20 or so in Richmond where hopes are the total raised will reach this year’s goal.
In 2015, donations reached about $130,000, about $5,000 short of the goal, said Maj. Kathie Chiu.
“That was low, pretty much our bare minimum,” said Chiu, adding much of the money goes towards sending children from needy families to camp each summer.
“I am hoping we can do better this year, otherwise we’re having to restrict the amount of help we can give out. And that’s always disappointing,” she said. “But we will always find the money to send kids to camp, kids will always get presents at Christmas and we’ll provide Christmas meals. But we will have to cut back in other areas to achieve that.”
The amount collected locally is on a bit of a rebound from the total in 2013 when the kettles brought in roughly $160,000. That dropped to $129,000 in 2014 before edging up slightly in 2015.
“That one year, in 2014, the news from our head office was that donations were down across the country,” Chiu said. “I think the economy was sluggish still, people were worried and donations were down.”
With a small army of volunteers, hopes are to build slightly on last year’s total, said Lennie Cristobal, this year’s kettle campaign organizer, who is also responsible for coordinating other charitable programs locally for the Salvation Army.
New this year is some Salvation Army locations collecting donations using debit and credit cards, although Richmond hasn’t adopted the system just yet.
“We wanted to...next year we’ll be looking at some high traffic areas to use the debit/credit card system,” Chiu said.
“I think they would pay for themselves, but I don’t think it’s as easy as just putting them out there in a designated place,” Chiu said.
The Salvation Army is always in need of volunteers to ring the jingle bells. To volunteer, call 604-277-2424, or email [email protected].
