Local Families are Helped Thanks to a Successful Christmas Season
The Salvation Army Christmas Campaign runs October 1 through January 31, and this year the campaign raised more than $26 million in financial and in-kind donations for our programs and services. We also continued several initiatives designed to recruit volunteers and remind clients of important services available to them.
Through the Register to Ring’s campaign – the Army recruited 2,974 volunteer bellringers who manned kettles for a total of 116,024 hours. Volunteer bellringers – especially groups and musicians – are a favorite among kettle donors, increasing donations an average of $26 per hour.
This year, we had 275 groups including members of the Grace United Methodist Church (Rockford, IL), Tri-City Exchange (Elgin, IL), Good Shepherd Methodist Church (Oswego, IL), Downers Grove North High School (Downers Grove, IL), and Baker Memorial Church (St. Charles, IL).
Southside pride was a theme for this year’s Kettle Campaign when White Sox Legend Ron Kittle partnered up with The Salvation Army. The Chicago All-Star is known for his hard work and devotion to his team and community – an ethic shared and embraced by The Salvation Army Metropolitan Division.
As part of this partnership, a Kittle Kettle was hosted at Orland Square, with Ron Kittle ringing a bell, meeting fans and taking pictures with the White Sox own fuzzy green dude, Southpaw!
We are grateful to our donors and volunteers for their generous support during the holiday season. You helped make the holidays brighter for families in need, and provide for services in the year to come.
To learn about more volunteer opportunities at The Salvation Army visit www.salarmychicago.org/volunteer or sign up for mobile alerts by texting VOLUNTEER to 51555.