The Salvation Army has launched its 2023 Christmas Kettle Campaign, with a different goal when looking at previous years.
The Kettle Campaign has been happening for 133 years all across the world, being Canada’s biggest fundraising campaign.
Executive Director Nancy Kerr is confident Londoners will reach this year’s goal which targets for $580.000.
‘’So our goal had been $550,000 for a couple years, which we surpassed every year. Thank you, London, for your generosity to do that. But because of the increased need, the increased cost for us to run our programs, we raised the campaign.’’
‘’Something new this year that we’re excited about is that the parents are going to be able to choose their own toys.’’
‘’Up until now, we’ve just packed bags for them. We know that this family has these many kids of this age and this gender or whatever, and we pack a bag for each child. So you never really know if the child’s going to like anything in that bag.’’
‘’$580,000 is our goal this year. But we did bring in more than that last year. So we’re pretty confident that London’s going to help us achieve that goal. And what that does, it helps us with our Christmas assistance program.’’
Kerr says they are anticipating registering about 4,200 families this year to help them at Christmas time, with around 6,500 children that will be receiving toys, still leaving them with money to support four food banks.
‘’We have tip tap at about 26 of the 46 locations that we have across the city. And our biggest need as we run the campaign is volunteers to stand at the Kettle. And we’re looking for people to do just two or three hours of their time.’’
‘’It’s a very rewarding experience. People are at Christmas time. Most people are happy and they’re excited to give, especially little kids, seeing the excitement on their faces and trying to put the money in the bucket,’’ says Kerr.
‘’So probably through the course of the year, we probably touch about 15,000 lives.’’
She says there are other ways the Salvation Army is contributing to bring happiness to people.
‘’We have an Amazon wish list on our website so people can just go in and buy something on Amazon and have it shipped to us. Also the central fire hall, the one downtown. They accept donations on our behalf 24/7 so people can go in there.’’
With rising prices everywhere, she says it’s heartwarming to see how many people have been helped.
‘’It just means so much. It means so much to me that the generosity of people that comes together to help the need of other people. And as I said, London has come through for us every year.’’
She says they’re yet not thinking about next year’s campaign, but rather looking what works and what doesn’t work.
‘’We really want to make sure that we are meeting the needs of the communities. We’re in four different communities in the city. So our plan next year is to kind of really work together with the community to find out where are their gaps, where could we be fitting in or the things we’re doing that maybe we don’t need to do because it’s covered.’’
There are 46 kettles across the city, which can be found at the malls and at most of the grocery stores.
Those interested in volunteering as a Christmas kettlebringer can find more information on the campaign’s website.
Comments