The Salvation Army is in the middle of their Red Kettle Campaign and they need help meeting their goal. Earlier this week, the local Salvation Army was $21,000 behind last year’s Red Kettle campaign.
“Our goal this year is $115,000 and that’s what our annual budget is based around,” said Captain Aaron Abram, corps officer of the Owensboro Salvation Army. “We’re at 42 percent of our goal and only have until Christmas Eve to ring.”
The money raised through the Christmas kettle campaign is used throughout the year and some essential programs could see less funding or even elimination. One of these is the number of children the Salvation Army sends to sleep away summer camp.
“Last year we sent over 30 children to a week-long camp at no cost to the family,” Abram said. “We may have to scale back on the number of scholarships to our SOAR Day Camp. Some of these are provided by a grant, but we offer additional scholarships above that number. We may have to limit the size of our camp based on our ability to hire staff.”
Field trips for their youth character building programs and CANteen ministry, the teen outreach program that provides a meal one night a week, may also be scaled back.
“Once utility and rent funds are depleted that come from [local agencies and businesses], we would not be able to take on additional cases,” he said.
Although Abram can’t point to just one reason people aren’t giving at the same pace as previous years, he believes one of the biggest reasons for the deficit is the late start for the Red Kettle campaign.
“We cannot start at our top locations until Black Friday,” Abram said.
Adding to that, fewer volunteers have signed up to ring the Salvation Army bell this season. When no one signs up, there is no kettle to fill at several of the locations.
“We just don’t have enough people to ring,” Abram said. “An empty kettle is a loss of $300-$500 a day. There are 13 locations and only five full-time ringers.”
Abram said that the strong economy is one reason why fewer people applied to ring this year.
Volunteer ringers raise more funds for several reasons, according to Abram.
“Volunteers have more energy because it is a sprint for them versus a marathon for full-time ringers,” he said. “Second, they are able to encourage and challenge their friends, family and co-workers to visit them while they ring.”
Small groups who ring for the campaign have more fun, and those who pass by the kettles comment on this and become more engaged and more likely to donate.
“We are looking for people who can ring at least two hours but more is greatly appreciated,” Abram said.
Challenges also make bellringing more fun for those ringing and those passing by. Although there isn’t a planned challenge, Abram said that Dec. 21 has availability and would be a great opportunity for families to challenge each other or Sunday School classes from the same church — or even different churches or departments from local businesses to create a challenge and promote the competition. Adding these challenges to social media also boosts community donations and promotes the positive aspects of volunteerism.
The Salvation Army Angel Tree angels have all been claimed, something Abram worried about earlier this week as the distribution date for the angels is Dec. 19. He took to social media several times to ask people to please help give the angels a Christmas.
To volunteer as a bell ringer, visit the Salvation Army Facebook page and send a message or call 270-685-5576 and ask for Captain Aaron.
For those interested in donating in the form of a check and aren’t where a kettle is available, mail it to the Salvation Army, P.O. Box 943; Owensboro, Ky. 42302. Abram asks that the giver write “Red Kettle Campaign” on the memo line.
