A local Salvation Army leader got duct-taped to a wall and received two pies in the face — smiling the whole time.
That’s because the fundraising effort raised $1,000 Saturday in two hours for the agency’s annual Red Kettle campaign, double the goal.
Donors who placed cash and coins in the familiar red kettles each got strips of duct tape to help attach Capt. Alan Sladek to the exterior wall at Rural King on National Road in Columbus, with more than enough tape to finish the job.
Givers finished by pelting Sladek with two pies in the face, one for each $500 raised.
“It was a beautiful day,” Sladek said.
Capt. Jodi Sladek, his wife who serves alongside him at the Salvation Army, started the promotion to boost a holiday fundraising effort that was lagging. Now the kettle push, running until noon Dec. 24, is within about $500 of last year for this stretch of the campaign.
Money from the Red Kettle campaign allows the Salvation Army to help people in need with utility bills and rent, groceries and other assistance. Plus, it funds summer camps for area youngsters from families in need. Eighty-three percent of the campaign’s donations go directly to those causes, with the remaining 17 percent for administrative costs.
Last year’s campaign, hampered by a bell-ringer shortage, still hit what is believed to be a record for recent years at $115,320, the Sladeks said.
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The Red Kettle campaign can use your help through Dec. 24. Besides giving at 22 sites around Columbus, the Salvation Army is accepting money donations at its office, 2525 Illinois St. in Columbus.
It also is accepting donations by mail to P.O. Box 807, Columbus, IN 47202.
Information: 812-372-7118.
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The Salvation Army has issued a reminder to those shopping for gifts for youngsters from its Angel Trees around Columbus.
Organizers would like gifts returned to the Salvation Army office at 2525 Illinois St. by Saturday.
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