Dawn Anderson said even when the temperature was well below freezing, their volunteers didn't stop ringing the donation bells. (Salvation Army Church Nanaimo's Facebook page).

By Jordan Davidson

another great year

Salvation Army Kettle Campaign raises almost $300k

Jan 16, 2022 | 6:35 AM

NANAIMO — The Salvation Army in Nanaimo is coming off an incredibly successful season for their Christmas Kettle Campaign.

Fundraising coordinator Dawn Anderson said their 20 kettle locations between Ladysmith and North Nanaimo were able to bring in $293,200 worth of donations this year.

“The exciting part, out of that $54,000 was raised on our tap machine. So when people saw the kettles they could just tap the $20, $10, or $5. Last year we raised $18,000 on the taps, so it’s a huge increase.”

She said this was about $3,000 higher than their target goal.

“We had one gentleman tap for $500. He just stood there and tapped the $20’s and just kept going.”

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Last year was the first time they had the option for people to tap their debit or credit cards to make a donation, with the only option at the time being $5.

The program runs for about six weeks, from the middle of November until Christmas Eve, with plenty of volunteers braving the December cold snap for their two-hour shifts.

“We had a great amount of people on our kettles this year, could still use a couple more. Everyone was fully vaccinated so it was awesome. We did all of our precautions for keeping people safe and people appreciated it.”

She said they have a number of sports teams, rotary clubs and different community organizations come out to help support their campaign, including Mayor Leonard Krog.

Anderson said they also served over 500 dinners during their annual Christmas Meal, as well as delivering 125 dinners to the homes of housebound seniors.

They also now serve over 14,000 meals a month through their meal program to community members in need.

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