Despite a very slow start, and a lack of volunteers for a number of locations around Grande Prairie, the Salvation Army’s annual Red Kettle Campaign is inching closer to its historically lofty goal.
As of December 27th, the region has donated $493,159 of the $525,000 goal. Salvation Army Captain Peter Kim says the jump of over $130,000 in donations from just over a week before left him floored by the generosity of Grande Prairie residents.
“We can’t do it without Grande Prairie, and they [have] always stepped up for the Salvation Army and have helped those in need. We are always grateful for their generosity; those who have been blessed are blessing others.”
Kim says despite the late surge towards the goal, it wasn’t the easiest of years for the legion of yearly volunteers, as a number of locations suffered shortages of helpers, and in some cases, weren’t able to operate at all.
“We were still short volunteers for certain locations, so we did end up not opening up one location for the whole campaign, actually. We were able to man as many locations as possibles, but it was a new location we were looking at.”
Kim says the goal will hopefully be hit, as they traditionally count the first two weeks of general donations in January towards the final total. In 2018, the Red Kettle Campaign raised over half a million dollars in Grande Prairie alone.