ESTEVAN — The Estevan Salvation Army is set to start its Christmas fundraising campaigns that help them get through the year.
With the drastic increase in food bank use this year, the Salvation Army had to raise its goals for both the Christmas kettle and mail-out campaigns to a total of $125,000, up from $90,000 last year. The hope is to raise $25,000 through kettles that will be run by volunteers at different locations in December and generate $100,000 through the letter appeal.
"Our goal is up from last year, but our demand is way up this year. We've seen almost a 25 per cent increase in people using the food bank. And it's expensive to keep it running. Groceries are expensive for us as well when we're trying to fill the shelves in the food bank. And so when we look at the numbers of what we're spending, we need to have that increase ... But we always get such great support from the community, and we appreciate that people are helping their neighbours" said director of ministry Ronza Reynard.
"There are so many people accessing the food bank, so many people that need that little extra top off in their groceries until their next paycheque comes through. So, we want to make sure that we always have our shelves well stocked, so that people have a variety when they come in to get their stuff."
The Salvation Army's letters will start appearing in people's mailboxes this week.
"[The letter appeal is for] anybody who wants to mail in a donation if they're not going to get to a kettle, or they can come down to the office and drop it off. If anybody or any businesses wants to get their picture taken with the crew down here, we can put it on social media and thank them publicly, that's also a good idea," Reynard said.
Money raised during the Christmas season helps the Salvation Army run the foodbank, which is their biggest program and organized as a store where people can come and pick up groceries they need within a set limit for their family at no charge. These funds also allow the organization to run their Back to School Backpack program, send kids to camps and run seniors' lunches.
Kettles will be out at the Southern Plains Co-op grocery store in Estevan and Clifton's No Frills from Dec. 1-23, Monday through Saturday. Volunteers will appear in Walmart from Dec. 11-23 as well, and there will also be a kettle set up at the Estevan Market Mall on Saturdays during the Christmas Farmers' Markets.
The Salvation Army is currently working on arranging volunteers to run kettles. They are inviting individuals, organizations and businesses to come join the campaign, promote their businesses and help them raise funds for important community initiatives. If somebody wants to work a kettle shift, or if there's a company that wants to take a day at one of the locations, they can call the Salvation Army at 306- 634-2074 and talk to Jackie Wynne.
"We are looking for service groups, businesses, individuals, maybe somebody who wants to do it as a family. Students at the high school can sign up to get their volunteer hours, too. There's lots of opportunity for people, many locations and a big enough schedule that we can fit everybody in," Reynard said.
"We do need the support of the community. Whether that's through a donation or taking two hours to stand at a kettle, all of this is going to come together and we just appreciate anybody who wants to partner with us and take on some kind of a role with us throughout the Christmas season."
The Salvation Army also put out a challenge for local businesses, inviting them to compete in collecting non-perishable food items for the foodbank. They will wrap it up on Nov. 30 and then crown an Estevan Food Champion of 2023 for a business that collected the most food and was the most creative in arranging it for a picture.
