Community support pushes The Salvation Army Traverse City Red Kettle past goal
Thanks to Community Support
January 3, 2024, Traverse City, MI, With Christmas behind us, the bells silenced, and Red Kettles in for the season the Traverse City Salvation Army Red Kettle wanted to thank the Traverse City community for a year that exceeded expectations.
“We want to say thank you to all those who made our Christmas season a tremendous success. Our Red Kettle Campaign goal this year was $240,000 and I am delighted to share we raised $270,748.35 in our kettles as our community once again reached deep and showed their generosity and love in a magnificent way.” says Envoy Greg Irwin of The Salvation Army of Traverse City.
But Greg also cautions “After the holiday season some people think The Salvation Army takes a break, but nothing could be further from the truth. Every day The Salvation Army is here to assist those in need with food, clothing, emergency assistance, as well as youth programming and an array of other services. With the help of our supporters, in 2023, we provided life-saving services to literally hundreds of families in desperate need in our three-county service area (Grand Traverse, Leelanau, and Benzie Counties) but our finances were not able to keep up with the demand.
With the continued economic challenges our community faces and cuts in benefits to the neediest folks in our area, the most vulnerable among us are still at-risk; “With the rapidly rising cost of living, there are many in our community who are hurting. The lack of snow this year is already causing a crisis for so many workers whose jobs are tied to the normally cold and snowy Northern Michigan winter. Thank you for helping provide these critical services to our neighbors in need, not just at Christmas, but all through the year.”
Holiday Assistance Recap
616 Individuals and families celebrated Thanksgiving and Christmas Community Meals
900+ Individuals and families gathered around their tables to celebrate holiday meals with their families and loved ones as they prepared meals from Holiday Food Baskets with all the fixings
575 Children and Teens received toys and gifts Christmas morning
5 Nursing homes were visited with residents receiving gifts along with a Dickens Christmas Service and caroling