The band played, the politicians (Penticton city councilor Judy Sentes and newly re-elected MP Richard Cannings) spoke, and even mascot Sally Ann made an appearance.
And with that, the 2019 Salvation Army Kettle Campaign was officially launched yesterday afternoon.
Running every day but Sundays to Christmas Eve, the Campaign aims to hit $140,000 this Christmas season. And with twelve Kettle locations throughout the region - eight in the city and one each in Summerland, Keremeos, Oliver, and Osoyoos - the coverage certainly seems strong enough.
They'll even have a secret weapon of sorts. And it comes courtesy of the new Salvation Army Penticton leadership team.
"This year," said Major Paul Trickett, who with wife Major Lisa Trickett moved to Penticton from Kamloops this summer to run the local Army branch, "we've brought on-site handheld terminals to four of our locations. They did very well for us in Kamloops, and we want to try them here."
What that means, of course, is that those who don’t have cash, or those who say they don't have cash, can now contribute merely by breaking out their Visa, Mastercard, or debit card.
"We'll rotate the terminals between locations," said Trickett. "They're wireless and easy. We're trying to be with the times, and the reality is that most of us don’t carry cash anymore."
But even with the high-tech upgrades, the program still has old school needs. Needs like volunteers.
"We do need more volunteers," said Trickett. "It takes upwards of 300 different volunteers to run the kettles here every year. We have about 250 right now, but we could ease the load and possibly put out additional locations if we had more."
And they'd be especially grateful for younger volunteers.
"We'd love younger people to get involved. We've been here in Penticton for 98 years now and we intend to be here another hundred. So we need to keep the base of our volunteers young and vibrant."
Christmas Kettle coordinator Val Fenn agreed, adding that volunteer shifts are just two hours in length, and that the need is especially great in Summerland.
Money raised through the Christmas Kettle Campaign goes to the local Salvation Army food bank. To volunteer, reach out to Val Fenn at 250-492-6494 or via email at [email protected].
