The Salvation Army was successful in its inaugural campaign to support its soup kitchen.

The organization’s Feeding Families Campaign concluded at the end of October with about $51,000 raised, $1,000 more than its goal.

“God blessed Butler,” said Amy Tebay, administrative assistant for the Salvation Army on West Cunningham Street. “And the people in Butler are tremendous. We couldn’t ask for better support.”

The Salvation Army started the campaign to support its daily soup kitchen, which serves about 750 lunches each week. Tebay said the kitchen has a $100,000 annual budget.

About 80 percent of the money goes to food. The kitchen has one paid chef and fewer than 10 volunteers.

That money is needed because the United Way of Butler County this year cut funding to the Salvation Army and other agencies due to its own fundraising shortfalls.

The United Way was about $180,000 shy of its $1.6 million campaign in 2013-14. It was expected to provide $13,000 to the Salvation Army this year.

The Salvation Army responded to the cuts by disaffiliating with the United Way.

The fundraising campaign was jump-started with a $10,000 donation from Dick Yoder of Butler. He is a retired car dealer who is a board member for the charity.

Tebay said the campaign had a couple contributions of more than $1,000, but added all the donations were vital.

“We had quite a few $15 to $20 donations,” she said. “They were all over the board, but they all added up.”

The campaign was launched at the beginning of October.