Central Minnesota’s Red Kettle Campaign Kicks Off This Friday

ST. CLOUD (WJON News) -- The St. Cloud Salvation Army is kicking off its annual Red Kettle campaign this Friday. They are hosting an event at Coborn's in Sauk Rapids from 5:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m.

Captain Nate North says they have a goal this holiday season of raising $150,000. Last year, they did not make their goal.

North says, with the SNAP benefits temporarily suspended, they are seeing an increased demand at their food shelf right now.

Our typical goal is to provide at least a week's worth of food, if not more, when we can.  But it just depends on what we have, and with the demand increasing, we've had to alter that a little bit, so we're not giving quite as much.

North says, besides funding the food shelf, the Red Kettle campaign funds all the services they provide throughout the year.

These kettles help support everything from our food shelf, which is evermore needed right now, to our shelter, to all of the different programs we run throughout the year, including our toy giveaway, and the backpacks at the beginning of the school year.

The St. Cloud Salvation Army will have about 20 kettles at locations all around central Minnesota throughout the holiday season. To volunteer to ring a bell, you can go to the website register-to-ring.com to sign up, or call their kettle coordinator at (320) 257-7425.