Salvation Army kettle donations on the rise in Parkersburg

The Salvation Army operates 7,546 centers in communities across the country, including food distribution, disaster relief, rehabilitation centers and children’s programs.

Many people stopped by the Salvation Army to pick up gifts for the holidays. In fact, one Good Samaritan in the community made an anonymous donation of $600 worth of toys to the program. The celebration will include a bell-ringing competition to see who can raise the most donations, an appearance by Detroit Lions’ mascot Roary and a live performance by The Salvation Army Brass Band.

Many organizations have already dropped off toys and food for those families.

“We don’t have as much for the ten and up group as we do for the younger kids”, Fowler said.

Lt. Ricky Scruggs of The Salvation Army Pendleton Corps, which also includes the Hermiston area, said the organization is seeing lower donations in the area served by Pendleton Corps.

Samuels rings the bell and mans the kettle at the Ocean Shores IGA from 1-3 p.m. daily. “They can really change a life”, Pam Goodyear, captain of the “Christmas Campaign”, said.

“It was windier in the earlier part of the morning so it felt more winter-like I guess, so I had a lot more people stop by”, said Harris.

While Christmas is just around the corner, there is still plenty of work ahead for The Salvation Army to bring a special Christmas to those in need. These contributions will sustain year-round youth programs and social services as well as the Angel Tree program.

They’ve raised $24,000 more than they had at this time the previous year, which is a 24% increase.

Maj. Tim Nauta, the commander of the Jamestown Salvation Army, said while the donation news is better than it was a week ago when donations were down 30 percent as compared to past year, donations are still down this week by 22.5 percent.