The Salvation Army in London Exceeds Christmas Kettle Campaign Goal

Thanks to the generous support from the community, The Salvation Army in London raised just over $583 000 through the 2022 Christmas Kettle Campaign.

Community and Family Services Executive Director Nancy Kerr says The Salvation Army in London served 4 200 families in 2022 and gave toys to 6 700 children and they expect that number to be higher in 2023.

“With the high cost of groceries, we expect to see more people coming to our food bank in 2023.  Even those making a living wage are struggling so we know that extra Christmas Kettle funds will be needed to support our food bank and we are so grateful,” said Nancy.

“We run a number of programs in London including Pathway of Hope, Life Skills and the Christmas Hamper program, but the largest portion of those funds raised go towards our food bank.”

“The Christmas Kettle goal was reached on December 22^nd which was lucky really because a large snowstorm hit the next day,” said London Salvation Army Community Relations Coordinator Jodie Yule. “People were very generous, and we pulled through in that last week.”

The return of many volunteers to the campaign also helped them reach their goal.

“Many volunteers were sick in the late fall and couldn’t go out but about 70 percent of shifts were still filled. We are seeing new volunteers who had a lot of positive feedback, and they want to come back and do more shifts,” said Nancy.

One volunteer in an email said, “It has been such an amazing experience volunteering with The Salvation Army! It was my first time, but hopefully not my last. Not only seeing the amount of people who wanted to help, but the genuine smiles of people who passed warmed my heart each time.”

During the Kettle Campaign, The Salvation Army in London raised over $17,000 at the kettle through the Corus Entertainment Radiothon on Country 104 FM, 103.1 Fresh FM, FM96 and AM980 News. In addition to donations to the kettle, online donations reached $8,500 and the public also donated toys for children in need.

“We are so grateful to all the sponsors and participants in the radiothon including the musical group Texas King, Finch Auto Group and Nick Cake,” said Nancy. “Jodie and her team of volunteers did a fantastic job with the Kettle Campaign too. We know Canadians don’t have a lot of extra money right now but were still very generous in supporting their neighbours in need.”