The Salvation Army’s local kettle fund raising campaign brought in $101,926 this year, according to figures available by year’s end.

Wednesday, January 02, 2002

The Salvation Army’s local kettle fund raising campaign brought in $101,926 this year, according to figures available by year’s end. That means they’ve raised 93 percent of this year’s goal of $109,000, according to Capt. Jamie Pennington of the Albert Lea Salvation Army.

More than 1,000 volunteers took their turn ringing bells for the duration of the campaign, which ran through much of December, Pennington said. Kettles were set up in a number of locations and were usually staffed by rotating groups volunteers for several hours each day.

The money raised through the kettle campaign goes toward food and toys for needy families at Christmas and also provides a big chunk of the funding for the local operations of the Salvation Army.

Donations are still being accepted, and any donations made before the end of January count toward the Christmas goal, said Pennington. Last year’s goal of $104,000 wasn’t met until Jan. 22. But this year things are looking great, he said.

Christmas was a busy time for the Salvation Army this year. The number of families seeking assistance from the Salvation Army was up almost 30 percent over last year. But even with the greater number of families being served, the organization was still able to help everybody, he said.

&uot;Albert Lea is a very generous, very caring community. It’s great to see the support,&uot; Pennington said.