Mike Wolanin | The Republic Dakota Laktonen holds a bell as he works the Salvation Army’s Red Kettle Campaign outside Hobby Lobby in Columbus earlier this month.
The annual Salvation Army Red Kettle Campaign now features a ring of hope for Christmas.
Fitting, it seems, for its last day of physical collection sites today, though the fund drive continues by mail and online through a final deadline of Jan. 31.
Capt. Amy Tompkins, the local leader of the social service agency and Christian church, reported Thursday afternoon that the campaign stood at $122,000 — ever closer to what she said is a now-reachable goal of $145,000.
“I don’t want donors to let up just yet, though,” she said.
She expressed profuse thanks to the local community for donations since the beginning of the month, when the campaign got off to what she said was one of the slowest and worst starts ever.
She passed thanks to Bender Lumber for a recent promotional day that matched $4,000 of the public’s donations and a promotional day from the Custer-Nugent Foundation that matched $10,000 from the public.
She mentioned that such help puts the campaign slightly under 2019’s total at this time — and that campaign ended at a record $135,000.
“Even though I know that this has been a very hard year financially for most people, this has now been a better year than last year or the year before,” Tompkins said.
However, as has been the case for some 15 years here and elsewhere nationwide, the organization has struggled to find enough volunteers to ring at a broad range of locations in order to collect donations. Those donations cover Salvation Army programs throughout the following year such as a food pantry, a Christmas Angel Tree program for needy families’ children and youth, utilities assistance, youth summer camps, after-school study help, teen activities, Bible studies and more.
Salaries and related expenses are covered by the organization’s divisional office, according to leaders. About 85 cents of every donated dollar goes directly to helping others, according to the organization’s promotional material.
The majority of ringers this year, as in other recent years, have been paid people, some of whom have struggled themselves financially.
But then there have been volunteers such as Stan Hill and several of his peers with the local Prince Hall Shriners of the Ancient Egyptian Arabic Order Nobles Mystic Shrine who rang bells at a Walmart kettle last weekend and raised $812.
“We were a little disappointed that we came up a bit short,” Hill said.
He used that term because the group raised nearly $1,000 — an incredibly good day for donations — at one of the kettles last year in a longer, eight-hour period of ringing.
“I like the way that the Salvation Army handles things,” Hill said. “And they do so much for the community.
“So we’re all just pleased to be able to help. It makes us feel really good.”
Can’t find a kettle?
The best-staffed kettle locations have been Kroger, both Walmarts, and Rural King.
But you can give online at sacolumbus.org or by mail to:
Salvation Army
2525 Illinois Ave.
Columbus IN 47201
