By MATT PIKE
St. Joseph Post
With just two weeks left in the annual red kettle drive, the Salvation Army is just about halfway to its fundraising goal.
St. Joseph Salvation Army's Major Ronald Key says that through the first weeks of the campaign, bell ringers around St. Joseph have helped bring in nearly half the money they were seeking to raise.
"Our goal is a hundred and eleven thousand, we're just about fifty four now, so just a little under a half way," Key tells KFEQ/St. Joseph Post. "So I'm not going to say it's impossible, because it's not, but it's going to be difficult to raise it, so we're just hoping that more people help volunteer."
Major Key encourages everyone to donate if they haven't yet, saying there are multiple ways to donate, between the kettles and online giving. Bells will be rung until December 24th.
Key says the Salvation Army is down about eight thousand dollars compared to this time last year.
Key says that there are a few factors that could be contributing to that.
"You know what, it just could be that there's more people in need let's say, or maybe they have less expendable money, so somebody who may have given us a five dollar bill before may only give us a dollar, I think that could be a part of it, just because, you know, the COVID is still affecting us, and just everything else," Key says. "So I think that's part of the reason."
Keys adds that it could also simply just be that people haven't given yet and are waiting until later to give their donations.
Key says with so many people returning to stores this year, it is a little surprising to find donations down, but he is still well aware that people still might be shopping online.
"You know a lot of people shop in different ways, Amazon and all those kinds of places, they have so many more options to shop from now," Key says. "But once again, I think probably a big part of it, maybe people just have less money to spend, so they're having to decide what's most important."
The Salvation Army is still seeking volunteers as the Red Kettle Drive nears a close, ending on December 24th.
For more information on the Red Kettle Drive you can click HERE