Salvation Army Christmas Kettle Campaign going high tech...whip out your debit card

This year, for the first time, the North Bay Salvation Army Christmas Kettle Campaign will provide debit machines to make donating easier.

“This year we will have four locations with debit machines. They will be at Walmart, Parker’s Your Independent Grocer, and Canadian Tire. From Canadian Tire it will switch over to Metro,’ explained Major Bonita McGory.

“A lot of people have been saying over the years that ‘you know, if you had a debit machine I could give’. Others have said if we had a debit machine we’d make more money. So we thought hey, let’s try it and see if it works. So this is a trial this year, and we’ll see where it goes from there.”

The Salvation Army officially kicked off its Christmas Kettle Campaign Friday, which was sponsored by Twiggs Coffee Roasters on Fraser Street.

Kettles go out to 15 locations around the city starting today, wrapping up Christmas Eve day.

The goal this year is to raise $150,000. Last year, $146,000 was raised, but demand for services has increased.

“We are seeing more and more people at the food bank. We are seeing more and more children at schools needing lunches. We have four schools we supply with lunches, and the need is going up. The schools are calling more often, saying they are out of lunches asking that we bring more. And then there’s people who need help with hydro,” said McGory.

The Salvation Army runs a number of programs including one that sends 25 children to summer camp.

“The need across the board is going up. And this is our only fundraiser for the year. Having community support means everything. Without the community support behind us, we could never do what we need to do in the community. And I have to say that North Bay is a very generous community.”

In the past year, the local Salvation Army has provided emergency food services to just over 3,200 people, over 2,500 hot meals, over 3,900 school lunches, as well as many household supports and emergency respites.

“We average about 100 people a week at the food bank. We’re hitting 480 school lunches a month now, and that is double what is was last year,” said John Dobbs, Director of Program Services.”

McGory says in the winter, many of the people using the food bank don’t even have warm boots.

“Sometimes they’re just in sneakers that aren’t even in very good condition. So through the thrift store, we supply boots, we supply coats, we supply mittens, hats, and scarves. That’s why it is very important that people also donate to the thrift store because we give them a voucher, like a gift card, and they go down and they get what they need,” said McGory.

Money raised from the campaign will provide Christmas hampers for 700 families in the North Bay area.

Dobbs says during his time as director of program services, the community has always come through.   

“This is my third season with the Salvation Army, and since I started, we have not missed our goal yet, and that means the world to us because it means we’re able to help the ones that need it the most.”