Jessica Mathews / news@whmi.com


Donations are said to be way down for The Salvation Army of Livingston County’s Red Kettle Christmas Campaign and the local Corps is reaching out to the community for help.

Just like Christmas trees and angels come out each season, The Salvation Army places its iconic red kettles at stores all over Livingston County and collects donations to support its local Christmas goal.

Donations collected during the Christmas season account for approximately 1/3 of its annual budget and are used to support year-round service programs.

With Christmas three weeks away The Salvation Army is reaching out to the community to ask for help.

As of Wednesday, December 6th $50,795.91 had been raised - only 12% of the $400,000 set goal.

Officials said that’s not quite where they would like to be but they know that the community will get them there to ensure that they will be able to continue to help those in need.

The Salvation Army of Livingston County says it has had many challenges this season, including less bell ringing locations. However, the most important one is not having enough bell ringers.

Lieutenant Robert Leach said “This year our challenge is finding bell ringers; I am sure the community has noticed that many of our kettle stands have no one ringing. That is because we are having a hard time finding both volunteers and paid ringers.”

The Salvation Army says it has a simple ask – “please sign up to bell ring”. If volunteers take the minimum 2 hours and a couple more organizations and businesses take a few more full days, they should be able to have the majority of their kettle sites filled.

Leach added the more kettles they have available, the easier it is to raise the funds. He said if they had all of their locations open the entire time, they are positive that they would be able to reach their Christmas goal.

Ringers are still needed to fill locations throughout the week, Monday – Saturday. Those wishing to help with bell ringing can sign up online www.RegisterToRing.com.

For those unable to physically ring or who want to double down, The Salvation Army has another opportunity to help - Virtual Kettles. That’s said to be a great opportunity “for families, organizations and individuals to help from their couch”. Those interested can sign up at www.FundRaiseForGood.org, and choose Howell as the location.

Donations may also be dropped off Monday-Friday 9am-4:30pm at the Corps’ 503 Lake Street office in Howell, or via mail at P.O. Box 647, Howell 48844.