Kettle campaign looking to raise $225,000
The Salvation Army North Bay’s Christmas Kettle campaign is underway with donation kettles set up in the community.
Major Stephanie Watkinson says this year’s goal is $225,000. She says that helps fund all of their programs and services for Christmas and the upcoming year, including the Salvation Army’s food bank.
“We do purchase a lot of our food for the food bank,” Watkinson says. “If there are food drives going on throughout the year then the funds we raise at Christmas can go directly into those support systems so we can bring more community workers in to teach people the skills that they need to. We’ve really created a community hub here.”
The Salvation Army moved into its new location on the overpass earlier this year.
They offer a variety of programs and services, including cooking classes, PA Day activities for parents and their children, summer camp opportunities for children, haircuts, and more.
Watkinson says the kettle campaign goal is the same as last year, noting they came up short, raising $190,000.
“We did some tweaking with programs that were costing us a lot of money that weren’t really meeting the needs of our clientele, so we really focused on what key programs and key items that we needed in the food bank,” she says.
Volunteers are also needed at various kettle locations, with an online booking system available.
We have a lot of regular volunteers that have consistently come every year but a lot of our volunteers are getting older,” she says. “We do need other people to step up. It’s a great opportunity for students needing volunteer hours.”
Details can be accessed via the Facebook post below.
Richard Coffinhttps://www.mynorthbaynow.com/Richard Coffin has been a reporter and news anchor on the radio in North Bay for over 25 years. From premiers to people in the neighbourhood, he enjoys connecting with newsmakers and writing stories that matter to area listeners on a variety of topics including healthcare, education, politics, sports and more.
