With less than a week remaining in the Salvation Army's Red Kettle Campaign, the organization is calling on the community to help boost donations.
Captain Karen Holland says this Saturday is the last day to stand at the kettles or drop off donations.
"For all of Chatham-Kent we're still down in our kettle donations--about $5,300 from the same time last year. That money goes to helping us out at Christmas time, but it also helps us serve the communities around Chatham-Kent throughout the whole year. It's important for us to be able to get that total up," says Holland.
Holland says this year’s goal is to raise $460,000, which is $5,000 more than last year. She says it has been challenging to meet the organization's goal because of a lack of volunteers.
"We are always short volunteers to stand at our kettles and we can't have the kettles out without a volunteer...so we can't get money in our kettles without them. I guess our plea for these last few days of the week would be that if anyone has two hours to spare and they would like to stand at a kettle for us that would be a huge help," says Holland.
Holland says she is still so thankful for the generosity of the community.
"We're totally grateful for the support that the Salvation Army has gotten this year and in past years from our community members. We feel very blessed that our community is so giving," says Holland.
For more information about the Red Kettle Campaign and how to volunteer, residents can call the following offices:
- Chatham: 519-354-1430
- Ridgetown/ Blenheim: 519-674-3765
- Wallaceburg: 519-627-8257