The bells are ringing for the annual Christmas Kettle campaign, thanks to a platoon of volunteers working for the Salvation Army. In the middle of November every year, the local church sets up the donation buckets at area shopping malls, grocery stores and department stores to put food on the table and help lower income people get through the winter.
The yearly campaign was touted during a chamber of commerce luncheon last week and the first kettles were actually set up and accompanied by volunteers yesterday.
Peter Kim, the new senior pastor and lieutenant at the Salvation Army Church, has been stationed here since mid-July as a replacement to past head Jason Guy. Now that Kim has had a good chance to familiarize himself with the city and its social structure, he is confident that local residents are once again going to step up to the plate and make sure that no one is left behind or left without the necessities of life to get through the toughest season of the year, and the other seasons, too.
“We’re providing a lot of food, clothing and shelter programs to help out with emergency services,” he began, outlining the church’s social work. Emergency assistance is their primary objective, but their aim is to always be there to lend a helping hand when fate sets someone back with any kind of unexpected obstacle.
“There are times when people really get stuck in a bind where they might have a job, they might have a place to stay, but one situation or another, whether it’s a death in the family or something like the loss of a job of one of the spouses, anything that might occur where they might need to get one-time assistance to get them back on their feet. We’ve had women in abusive situations who just needed somewhere to go. They come to us and we’re able to help them get back on their feet as well.”
To that end, the Salvation Army always has something going on to help somebody, whether it’s their recently wrapped up Coats for Kids and Families program, its children’s camps, or any of the numerous ways that it helps people with the aforementioned necessities, plus transportation, medical assistance or just paying for utilities.
Then there are family counselling, services for seniors, budgeting assistance and rent subsidies, not to mention the weekly Lunch with the Bunch group or the tots’ playgroup, drop-in dodgeball and floor hockey for youth, and the monthly subsidized community kitchens. For $6 a person can go home with five freezer-ready, home-cooked meals. The Salvation Army also partners with the St. Albert Food Bank to help provide Thanksgiving and Christmas hampers.
All in all, hundreds – if not thousands – of people, including many children benefit from the church’s outreach work.
And that’s why the kettles are so necessary: none of it would be possible without money. This year’s goal is $275,000 and Kim believes that it’s possible.
“Last year our target was $250,000 and we blew it out of the water by getting $280,000. Hitting $275,000 might be okay …” he speculated with a laugh. “It’s a big goal! There are a lot of people who are blessed in St. Albert and we recognize that there’s also a lot of people who love to give. That’s why this is such a great community.”
“We do pray for that and we want to thank everyone for their continued generous donations. We can’t do this work without them.”
He added that funds raised are used to support local efforts so that the money stays in the community. He’s also hopeful that there will be enough funding to start some new programs like an afterschool program to curb vandalism and promote safe and positive environments.
“We’re also looking to – hopefully in the future – get a feeding program going. People don’t know this but there are homeless people actually in St. Albert and so we do want to help them out as well. To be able to get to them would be a great way of giving back to the community.”
“People like to say, ‘You at the Salvation Army… you guys do good work.’ We like that, it’s true, but I look at it more like those who are volunteering, those who are donating … they are, in a way, the Salvation Army. They are, in a way, giving back to the community. They are really the face of change in this world. People don’t realize how much giving really helps.”
While the kettle campaign began on Friday, volunteers are still needed to accompany the kettles.
The Christmas Kettle campaign runs until Dec. 24 with stations set up at both Superstore and Walmart locations in St. Albert and Spruce Grove, along with St. Albert Centre, Sobeys, both Save-On Foods stores, and the Salvation Army Thrift Store at Tudor Glen Market. On the weekend of Dec. 15 and 16, select locations of TD Canada Trust and Scotiabank will also host kettle stations.
Donations can be made with cash or credit cards.
The Salvation Army Corps and Community Centre is located at 165 Liberton Dr. For more information call 780-458-1937.
