Just like everyone else the Williams Lake Salvation Army’s Christmas Kettle campaign is feeling the pinch.
Kettle Coordinator Sarah Jackman said it’s been good so far but they are experiencing a pretty dramatic shortfall in donations compared to last year.
“Everybody is struggling with the cost of living so we thought it may go down a bit. As of right now we are less than half of raising our goal. We are starting to scramble a little bit and there are only a few days left in the campaign so we are really hoping that everybody gets generous with us and gives whatever they can whether it’s the change in their pocket or by using their debit on the tap machine.”
There are six Kettle locations around Williams Lake: Walmart, the Wholesale Club, Canadian Tire, Save On Foods, Freshco and the downtown Liquor Store.
“Our goal for this year was $70,000 and like I said we’re less than half that so far so we’re really going to have to hustle if we’re going to make it. Mail represents about one third of our total donations every year and those aren’t coming through this year so it’s a little bit tough.”
The donations may be down but the need for what the Salvation Army provides is on the rise.
“We had a pretty dramatic increase in people accessing our services over the past year,” Jackman said, “The people that did come to us whether it be for Christmas Hampers or the Food Bank it’s gone up significantly by 20 to 25 percent. There’s definitely a need and the need is growing so we do need all the volunteers and donations we can get.”
All donations made to the Christmas Kettle campaign goes to food support, shelter, basic necessities, breakfast programs, housing support, food hampers, toys and drop-in centre.
“It funds an awful lot of things in the community that a lot of the population don’t even realize we have, Jackman added. “It’s our biggest fundraiser every year and it’s pretty critical on us continuing the programming that we offer.”
Anyone interested in volunteering a couple of hours to the Williams Lake Salvation Army Christmas kettles to call Sarah Jackman at 778-267-8113 or stop by any kettle location and ask how you can sign up.
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