File Photo (Image Credit: CFJC Today)

By Jill Sperling

Kettle Campaign

Salvation Army facing new challenges with this year’s Kettle Campaign

Nov 13, 2020 | 4:21 PM

KAMLOOPS — It’s the time of year when the Salvation Army kettles start popping up around the city. It’s the primary fundraising campaign for the organization and this year the need is greater than ever.

“I think the reality is, as this pandemic drags on we’re seeing the impact,” said Cpt. Cory Fifield with the Kamloops Salvation Army. “We know that obviously, people are receiving government support throughout this, but we know at some point that’s going to shift again and we know that, unfortunately, jobs aren’t going to come back as quickly. So we recognize that in the coming months and even the coming year, we aren’t going to see this sudden shift where people have more money, it’s more likely that people will have less.”

The Salvation Army is looking to raise $375,000 through its Christmas campaign in order to help those struggling in this city. “Of that, $240,000 is our goal direct from kettles and this year we’ve included as part of that $240,000 we’ve set a goal for ourselves for $80,000 for fillthekettle.com recognizing how many people are not going to be able to give in person,” Fifield said.

Through the online giving tool, people can set up a virtual kettle and encourage friends and family to give. The money raised through the Kettle Campaign funds the Salvation Army’s programs year-round.

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“This is an interesting year,” said Cpt. Kelly Fifield. “Obviously due to COVID we had to turn on a dime and say, ‘What are we going to do? How are we going to continue to serve the community?’ And so one of the changes we made that people probably see more than anything else is rather than do our meals in-house, we’ve been able to switch and we serve on our food truck out in the community twice a week. So, those donations help to provide the funding to have that truck out there as well as for the food to be out there.”

Kamloops-North Thompson MLA Peter Milobar met the Fifields at Independent Friday (Nov. 13) as they kicked off the Kettle Campaign. Milobar says it’s important to support the agencies that provide for the city’s most vulnerable populations.

“The Kettle Campaign, the virtual Kettle Campaign, all of those initiatives over Christmastime this year are critical to make sure the Salvation Army is viable throughout the year, being able to help those people in need,” Milobar said.

In addition to needing financial support, the Salvation Army is struggling to recruit volunteers for the campaign.

“We’ve got a huge need this year,” Cory Fifield said. “We’re in a real crisis situation already, recognizing we’ve got locations that we simply don’t have any volunteers for the whole season at this point. Today we have 10 kettles that could be out, we have four that actually have volunteers.”

Volunteers for this year’s campaign will be required to wear masks and frequently sanitize their kettle.

If you would like to volunteer you can call the Salvation Army at (250) 819-0843.