The Salvation Army is starting its annual holiday fundraising campaign early across the country, for the first time in 130 years. The funds raised through the organization’s iconic red kettles are at risk this year due to COVID-19 while requests for services are at an all-time high.
Major John Brackenbury, divisional commander of The Salvation Army Alaska Division: “There are so many stores that have closed, foot traffic has been considerably reduced. As well as the fact people are not going to be carrying cash or coins. there’s a shortage of coins. The need we are seeing this year, right now, is so great we are very concerned about the number of people coming to us during the holidays, and ensuring we have enough resources to help them. It provides food, it provides toys, it provides utilities, rental assistance. Those dollars go well beyond the month of December.”
Due to the factors Major Brackenbury mentioned, The Salvation Army could see up to a 50 percent decrease in funds raised nationally through the red kettles. This will potentially limit their capability to provide services for the most vulnerable. To put this in perspective, last year $126 million was raised nationally through approximately 30,000 red kettles. In Alaska, $402,200 was raised from red kettles.
Lessa Peter, the Salvation Army Alaska Division’s Communications Director, told KSRM News that the idea this year is to go digital when possible, and that the Kenai area has its own web portal for residents to contribute: “We really want to focus on digital efforts, just because of COVID and everything going on. Although we will have volunteers that will be wearing their PPE and their gloves, wiping down the kettle after a donation, it’s not something that we do want to focus on as much this year, just because we know there will be less foot traffic, there is a coin shortage, and not as many people going out and donating or having cash to donate. All of our communities that have a Salvation Army corps, we have created an online digital red kettle. So, for the Kenai area, we have KenaiRedKettle.org – that’s where anybody can go to donate towards the Rescue Christmas effort that the Salvation Army has.”
Based on the increase in services already provided in response to the pandemic, the organization could serve up to 155% more people in 2020 with Christmas assistance, including putting food on the table, paying bills, providing shelter, and helping place gifts under the tree, if the resources are available.
