Sarnia's Salvation Army has launched its 2025 Christmas kettle campaign.
Captain Brad Webster said they hope to raise $175,000 this year.
"The money collected in our kettles goes toward all of our programs throughout the years. Whether that be our food bank, our outreach truck, it could be put into our rental utility banks, our medical outreach and so on," said Webster.
He said the funding represents "quite a significant chunk" of their budget for yearly programming.
"Our final tally from last year [2024] was $175,494.54," Webster said. "It goes a long way as we continue to see need going up in our community, as we continue to see more and more people come through looking for service, whether it be the food bank or any other program that we run. We do need to support that somehow and the kettles are a huge part of supporting our budget throughout the year."
You'll find kettles at Lambton Mall, Canadian Tire, Walmart, and at the Real Canadian Superstore. In December, they'll be at Sarnia's Lakeshore Road and Quinn Drive LCBO locations.
"We are still desperately looking for volunteers for the program," he said. "Anybody who has two hours to spare to stand at a kettle, it's a great opportunity to interact with your community."
Interested volunteers are asked to call Kettle Coordinator Brenda Dunn at 548-997-0750.
"This year were looking for companies, organizations, community groups. If you wanted to sponsor a kettle for the day, we'd love to put your name on a kettle, and you take the shift for a day at one of our locations," said Webster.
He said each year the community has been "fantastic."
"My wife and I have been here for seven years running the Salvation Army here in Sarnia, and every year we are amazed by the generosity of this community and how close knit the community is," he said. "We haven't missed a goal yet, and we hope this year is no different."
Webster realizes there are many organizations fundraising at this time of year, but said even if you have a loonie you're able to drop in a kettle, every dollar counts.
