Charlottetown Salvation Army desperate for kettle campaign volunteers
CBC News | Posted: November 30, 2017 12:09 AM | Last Updated: November 30, 2017
The Christmas Kettle campaign raises about $100,000 each year
The Salvation Army in Charlottetown is struggling to find enough volunteers for its Christmas Kettle campaign.
The organization has kettles in about nine locations and says everyday it has shifts it can't fill.
"We desperately need good volunteers.... There's no substitute for having a friendly face who greets a person at a Christmas Kettle and says 'thank you, Merry Christmas,' and wishes a person well," said Maj. Daniel Roode, the officer responsible for the Salvation Army's services in Charlottetown.
"That is so vital, that's what, I think to a great deal encourages people in their giving."
Roode said the kettle campaign helps pay for numerous family programs and every time a volunteer's space is left empty it means fewer donations coming in.
"If as the campaign proceeds and those spaces were not to get filled again that would mean lost opportunity, for donations, lost revenue," Roode said.
"And that would be something that we don't want to consider when we come to the end, what if we don't make our goal."
The goal is to raise about $100,000 each year with the kettles. They've already been out for about a week and they'll stay in stores until Dec. 23.
"Without the funds that we receive from the kettle campaign we wouldn't be able to do our Christmas program and the hampers that we give out."
'Terrific organization'
Dave MacEachern has been volunteering with the Salvation Army's Christmas Kettle campaign for at least 11 years, and has been working more shifts each year since he retired.
He says donations are not as substantial at the beginning of the season but by the second and third weeks of campaigning, people are "very generous."
"Most people give, it's hard when you might be around town you might walk past four or five of these a day so you can't expect them to give every time," he said.
MacEachern said he thinks there is more of a need each year and that if people knew how easy it is to be a kettle campaign volunteer, they would probably be happy to try.
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