Salvation Army needs help to reach Red Kettle goal
The Salvation Army needs your help.
The organization failed to meet the goal of its annual Red Kettle campaign, which started Thanksgiving Day and ended last week.
The campaign raised only $79,000 of its $92,000 target. Regionally, the nonprofit hoped to raise more than $2.3 million across 28 counties in Western Pennsylvania through the program.
Every dollar donated to the local Red Kettle campaign stays in our community, helping vulnerable or struggling neighbors. These donations help the Salvation Army provide a wide range of social services, including shelter, food, rent and utility assistance, addiction-recovery programs, after-school programs and summer camps. Money also goes to help residents recovering from fires, youth empowerment and spiritual programs.
The Salvation Army is seeing an increased need for services here in Butler County.
But the charity, like many other nonprofit organizations, has struggled in recent years due to economic shifts and other trends. Some donors feel tapped out after giving during the pandemic. Others have less money to give due to rising inflation, and some potential donors simply don’t carry cash anymore.
Chapters of the Salvation Army have reported a steady decline in donations the last several years. Charities as a whole faced an inflation-adjusted 10.5% drop in giving in 2022, according to an Indiana University Giving America 2023 report.
The Washington Post reported that in 2022 the Red Kettle campaign received $102 million nationwide, a 19% drop from the $126 million earned in 2019. That money helped 24 million people. Last year, the Salvation Army helped more than 4.5 million people around the holidays, according to the organization.
“We have not yet seen throughout the nonprofit sector a return to the generosity and giving that we had seen before the pandemic,” commissioner Kenneth G. Hodder, the Salvation Army’s national commander, told the Post.
The Red Kettle drive, one of the oldest and largest charitable campaigns in the world, dates to 1891, when Salvation Army Captain Joseph McFee wanted to address San Francisco’s poverty and hunger issues during the holidays.
“Donations to our Red Kettle Campaign allow us to continue serving those in need long after the Christmas season,” Major Gregory Hartshorn, divisional commander for the Salvation Army of Western Pennsylvania, said. “Our work would be impossible without the generosity of the community.”
Donations can be made online or at the organization’s local facility at 313 W. Cunningham St. Those who wish to donate should send checks to the Salvation Army, PO Box 389, Butler, PA 16003, or text to 31333.
New this year, donations also can be made by texting the word “kettle” to 31333. Donors can then reply with their ZIP code to ensure the donation goes to their local Salvation Army.
The Salvation Army has helped those in need for decades. It’s time to pitch in to help the organization continue this mission.
– JGG
