The Salvation Army’s 2020 Red Kettle campaign fell short of its goal during this calendar year. Jacksonville Salvation Army Major Charles Pinkston says that the campaign has fallen short of its goal both this year and last year. However, he says he’s pleased with the results in light of all that’s happened this year with COVID-19 turning everything upside-down: “We’ve had the same goal for the last couple of years. We’ve kept it at $80,000. So far, last year we brought in a total just under $75,000 and this year, total income this year for Christmas up through December 23rd was $64,170.64 and I believe on the final day we brought in another $3,000, which would put us right around $68,000 for the year. We’re about $12,000 short of our goal, which isn’t too bad considering everything that’s happened this year. We really didn’t know what to expect.”
Pinkston said that having less locations and other factors slowed down donations this year: “We did have fewer volunteers this year than we had in the past. We did have quite a few. We knew that we would have a decrease in volunteers this year. Overall, I think we did really well. The community came together, as we always do, and we were able to come close to our goal anyways. People can continue to give.”
Pinkston says there are multiple avenues to donate through the end of January: “They can drop off a check here at our office at 331 West Douglas Avenue. They can mail it in. This year we also have the opportunity for the online giving, which is available as well. If people want to go to our local website. It’s https://centralusa.salvationarmy.org/midland/jacksonville/ and there will be a link there to give. You can also go to to the Register to Ring website at registertoring.com. Several options are available for even those who still aren’t out and about. We didn’t quite hit our goal in the Red Kettle Campaign, but we still have our mail and white mail that come in. I believe with those that we will definitely meet our overall goal for the year.”
WLDS/WEAI will also be extending our online Red Kettle donation link for the Jacksonville Salvation Army through the end of January.