Another fine Christmas season tradition got underway on Monday with the launching of the 2014 Salvation Army Christmas Kettle Campaign.
The official launching took place at the Estevan Shoppers Mall and the kettles will be strategically placed throughout the city until Christmas Eve, said Lieut. Brian Bobolo of the Salvation Army.
“Generally speaking, the kettles will be in place from 10 a.m. until 8 p.m. each day Monday through Saturday,” the SA officer said.
The kettles will be attended by a crew of community volunteers with each person being with the kettle for two-hour shifts.
As of Nov. 27, Bobolo said there were still 180 shifts still to be filled, and they would hate to have to take a kettle out of the donation stream due to the lack of a volunteer.
The kettles will be found in the Shoppers Mall main concourse, the Saskatchewan Liquor Store, No Frills and Southern Plains Co-op grocery stores and WalMart as well as at the Salvation Army’s headquarters.
“Just call us at 306-634-2074 and Ronza or one of us will set you up for a volunteer shift,” said Bobolo. “All we need is someone willing to give us two hours and be ready to smile, have some fun and get an opportunity to visit with a generous community. Estevan has been very good that way, so we’re not concerned. If we can get some young people involved, get the next generation underway with this tradition, it will be positive,” he said, noting that Estevan Comprehensive School students have lent their time to the cause in previous years.
The financial target this year is a modest increase over last year’s $37,000, which was achieved late in the season. The Army is raising the goal by only $1,000 this year, gunning for $38,000 in individual donations from busy shoppers who will be passing by the kettles on a regular basis as they get ready for Christmas.
The kettle campaign is matched with an Estevan and district mail-out appeal that began Nov. 27. The envelopes, which are delivered to your home with return envelopes and an address on it, are also a good way for the Army to realize its community service goal each year.
“Last year the mail campaign brought in $55,000 and we’re hoping for $57,000 this year,” said Bobolo, noting that the costs associated with the mail campaign come to about $4,000, so it’s definitely cost-effective.
“These two campaigns set the tone for the rest of the year. We generally receive lots of attention and donations at Christmas and with a $95,000 target, that sets a good tone for 2015,” Bobolo said.
The funds collected stay within the community and are spent in a variety of ways.
“It goes to all programs. We might use some for the food bank for the purchase of fresh fruit and vegetables or whole grain products to meet the nutritional guidelines. Some might have to go to general operating expenses, some will be used for counselling and support services and shelter costs, other than the Warm Welcome homeless shelter we’re involved with. We offer shelter all year around. We also have summer camps for youngsters and teens, emergency transportation and medications for some clients on occasion, and we participate in the community hamper program at Christmas, too. I think last year we did up about 25 hampers for that. We provide small gifts for seniors at nursing homes and for a few children and we can’t forget the emergency disaster services like we needed to tend to in places like Gainsborough last summer during the flood. So that’s part of the list,” said Bobolo.
The Lieut. added that surrounding communities have been very generous with donations to the Army, through the mail campaign as well as direct drives and donations and in return, the Army welcomes any opportunity to extend any of these services to them at any given time, when the need is identified.
