The Salvation Army was successful in its inaugural campaign to support its soup kitchen, but it already must refocus for another fundraising effort: the annual Christmas Campaign.

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 created 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. It wasn’t the first Salvation Army to do so in Western Pennsylvania.

The New Kensington Salvation Army disaffiliated with the Westmoreland County United Way in July after that United Way required the charity to provide an external audit to receive funding. The $7,000 audit would have been met with a $10,000 allocation.

Four other Salvation Army locations in Westmoreland County had previously broken ties with the United Way.

However, the relationship between the United Way and Salvation Army is strong in other counties. The United Way of Mercer County allocated more than $82,000 to four Salvation Army locations this year. The United Way of Allegheny County is providing more than $400,000 to the organization.

The Butler Salvation Army’s 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 launched at the beginning of October.

Tebay said the Salvation Army hopes to have similar campaigns in the future.

“We would like to make it a yearly thing,” she said, but added the campaign may be moved ahead a month or two so that it is better separated from the charity’s established annual Christmas Campaign.

The Salvation Army is looking to raise $95,000 in its holiday efforts this year.

Tebay said the charity has permission to stand outside the JCPenney department store at the Clearview Mall in Center Township now, and it will begin seeking donations at six other sites on Nov. 14.

That money goes to yearly operations, utilities, children programs and the soup kitchen.

“Because of its size, we use it for all of our programs,” Tebay said.

She added the Salvation Army will hold small fundraisers throughout the year, but these two campaigns are by far the biggest sources for donations.

She said donating to the Salvation Army is a great way to support the community.

“It helps us help those who are less fortunate,” she said.

Anyone interested in supporting the Salvation Army can donate at www.wpa.salvationarmy.org.