Salvation Army kicks off Christmas Kettle campaign
The Salvation Army’s annual Christmas kettle drive was kicked off today at City Hall in Lindsay, with the hope of surpassing last year’s goal by $10,000.
Last year’s campaign goal was $55,000, says Miya Bradburn, kettle coordinator. “The community was very generous and we surpassed this goal,” she tells the Advocate.
“Given that we know Lindsay has a big heart for others, we have stretched our goal for Christmas 2018 to $65,000,” she says.
The Salvation Army Lindsay will have Christmas kettle locations in seven different spots throughout Lindsay, November 22-24, November 29-December 1, and December 3-24. They can be found at Canadian Tire, Food Basics, Giant Tiger, LCBO, Lindsay Square, Loblaws, and Valu-Mart.
Bradburn says the funds raised last year helped them to create a voicemail program, giving those without a phone the opportunity to have calls returned for important things like appointments.
“We changed our food bank system, allowing participants to walk through and pick out items they want, based on a points/value system,” Bradburn says. The local Salvation Army also helped launch an outreach lunch program this summer to provide children with a healthy lunch, they sent 20 children to camp, and the local team “continues to look for ways to support specific and varying needs.”
As well, 350 Christmas food hampers will be handed out – providing the necessities to help many individuals and families celebrate the season with a delicious Christmas dinner.
–Left: Jeff Robertson, area director of public relations for The Salvation Army; centre, Major Robin Cory, community ministries director, The Salvation Army Lindsay, and Kawartha Lakes Mayor Andy Letham.
