Salvation Army Christmas preparations underway

This year, they still plan on doing the overnight warming centre, their usual toy drive, and Christmas kettles. Even now, Dean said that there has already been a family who has dropped off donations of Lego towards this year’s toy drive.

Still, without that stockpile of toys from last year, he said this year it is going to be much more difficult to meet demands.

“It’s a mammoth task, and the toys that were left over from last year, normally what we would do is we would hold on to them and that’s what we would start our next year’s season with. It’s an exciting but nervous time as well for us because nobody could have predicted what this season may look like. Somebody said to me today, ‘We’ll adapt and overcome’, and we have adapted a fair bit this year and continue to serve our community as we always have.”

While the toy drive is a major priority, it’s the bell ringers at the kettles that have a bigger impact than most realize. All the money raised from the Salvation Army kettles goes directly back into the community.

Dean said that there is already one group that has booked a week’s worth of shifts ringing the bells, but filling out the rest of that volunteer list is vital.

“We definitely need kettle bell ringers,” he said. “We are closing in on I think it’s about 37,000-38,000 meals this year that we have served. Meals happen six days a week, and I don’t know if you’ve been to the grocery store recently, but for me I see the price tag every time I pick up more supplies.”

While the Salvation Army is willing to accept food donations for the meals they cook, it’s tougher now without the building they had last year. That lack of storage space makes it difficult to receive those donations, but they’re trying to find a way.

“If there’s a rancher that’s got a beef that they would like to donate or a farmer that’s got a couple hundred pound of potatoes, they fill in meals real quick and do really well for us. And when I say a couple hundred pounds, I don’t need 2,000 pounds at a time because at this point in time we have no space to store it and so we would not want to waste any.”

Dean said that more information about how to donate toys and how to sign up to volunteer is going to be released on their social media pages in the next few weeks. In a year where they are already starting at a disadvantage, Dean is sure that the community will step up to support them.

“I know this is a wonderful community and our community hasn’t failed us yet, and I don’t believe they will now.”

Monetary donations can be made out to 900 Central Avenue, or towards their PO Box directly at Box 786, Station Main, Prince Albert.

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nick.nielsen@pattisonmedia.com

by Nick Nielsen

Salvation Army Christmas preparations underway

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