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Salvation Army launches annual kettle campaign in Orangeville

December 2, 2021   ·   0 Comments

By Brian Lockhart

You see them every holiday season at local malls and stores.

They are the people from the Salvation Army New Hope Church with their familiar kettles collecting donations for neighbours in need.

In an increasingly cashless society, accepting donations can be difficult when many people simply don’t carry cash like they used to.

The Salvation Army has kept up with the time and now offers a ‘tap’ option with a debit/credit card as a way to make a safe and quick donation without having to dig through your pockets or purse to find some money.

In today’s electronic economic environment, most people aren’t surprised to see the tap option available and are quite willing to tap a donation rather than try to find some cash.

The kettle campaign has been part of the Salvation Army’s program for well over 100 years.

“It’s the only face to face fund raising initiative we take on,” explained Roger Barrow, Pastor at the New Hope Church. “It’s the only time you’ll see us out there asking for money. Every dollar that gets put into those kettles here in the Orangeville and Shelburne area – all that money stays right in this community. That’s what funds our family services for the next year. That will fund our Christmas toys, the Christmas meals that we do and not only does it do that, it funds the food bank we have at the church, we do laundry for the homeless, emergency hotel stays, and backpacks for kids for back to school. Canadian Tire gave us a whole bunch of coats with tags still on them so we give out coats. Plus we do other things like anger management programs for kids.”

The tap system allows people to tap a $5, $10, and $20 donation and allows for up to ten taps at a time.

“It seems that the tap system has really caught on this year,” Mr. Barrow said. “People can come up to us and tap up to ten times. People don’t seem to carry cash as much anymore and they like that contactless way as well. It’s a bit of a COVID friendly way of donating as well.”

Many people who donate appreciate the fact that their gift will be used to benefit people right here in town.

The kettle program will be out greeting people right up to Christmas Eve on Dec. 24.

The Kettle Campaign will be held at locations across Orangeville and Shelburne, including Metro, Walmart, Canadian Tire, Zehrs, and Sobeys locations, as well as at two LCBO locations.

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