Web posted
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Late Christmas present
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Photo by Donita Clausen
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Local Salvation Army office goes beyond its goal
By CHRIS ROBINETTE
Traveler Correspondent
The Salvation Army is all about helping people, and they try to make sure everyone has a nice Christmas. This year the local Salvation Army chapter got a nice surprise of its own at Christmas.
When they added up the totals from the annual bell ringing campaign, they were surprised to find they had raised $92,000.
The situation looked pretty grim at the start of the holiday season. With hardly any bell ringers for their yearly fundraiser, the target of $76,000 seemed a long way off. When Andrew Wheeler, a Salvation Army administrator in Cowley County realized how dire the situation was, he sent out a press release asking for assistance. When the word got out help began to arrive.
"When people found out what the need was, they rose to the challenge and helped to meet that need," said Wheeler, "The donors also rose to the challenge and realized when they saw a kettle hanging on the stands we needed their help putting money into those kettles."
Bell ringers were used over 400 times by the end of the fundraiser; by the end of December the amount of money raised was over $92,000. These funds are what pays for the Salvation Army's operation throughout the year, paying for everything from utility bills to insurance and employee salaries. Any projects for the community that the Salvation Army takes on gets its support from these funds.
The extra fund give the Salvation Army some room to grow this year.
"One thing we're going to attempt to accomplish is (to) have a place of our own for worship," said Wheeler. Aside from that, the Salvation Army will continue to provide assistance to the community.
"We continue to be called on to meet the need for the community and the need continues to increase," Wheeler says.
Above: Salvation Army Thrift Store manager Becky Benning looks at clothing at the store. She has worked as a volunteer for 30 years, and as an employee for the past 10 years.
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