It’s a slow start to the 2019 Kelowna Salvation Army Christmas Kettle Campaign this year.
Lead pastor Darryl Burry said the current campaign has raised just 22 per cent — or approximately $155,000 — of it’s $700,000 campaign goal for this year.
That’s $8,500 less than the organization had raised during their 2018 campaign at this time last year.
READ MORE: Salvation Army ready to kick off Christmas Kettle campaign in Central Okanagan
Burry said one possible reason for the slow start is that the Salvation Army has a separate West Kelowna kettle campaign fundraiser for 2019.
Despite the financial hardships, Burry said every donation counts for the campaign to help the Kelowna Salvation Army sustain it’s operations for 2020.
“Funds raised this Christmas season help support everything we do for the entire year, including for emergency disaster services like fires in the summer,” said Burry.
“These funds are critical to us.”
Burry said increased demands in their services are one factor putting financial pressure on the organization.
“We have seen a 47 per cent increase in people access our services, or 1,000 new families accessing our services, when comparing the first six months of 2019 to 2018.” said Burry.
“We definitely need more support. The $700,000 fundraising goal is to just keep things as they are.”
This year’s kettle campaign kicked off on Nov. 14. The kettle campaign will take place in 19 different locations throughout Kelowna and wrap up on Dec. 24.
To help donate, you can visit one of the kettle locations or donate to the online campaign which ends on Dec. 31.
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connor.trembley@kelownacapnews.com
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