Photo provided to the Times Observer Members of the Rotary Club and Kiwanis Club ring bells as part of the Salvation Army’s Red Kettle Campaign.

BY JACOB PERRYMAN

jperryman@timesobserver.com

With only days to go, the Warren Salvation Army is still short of its 2023 Red Kettle Campaign goal.

The annual campaign set a goal of $75,000 for the year, but as of Tuesday afternoon, the organization was still $22,000 short.

“Saturday is our last day to ring for kettles,” Salvation Army Major Dorothy Budd said. “We are hopeful that we can make it, but wanted to share with the community that we are still behind in reaching our goal.”

Red Kettles can be found in Warren at Shurfine, Walmart, Tops and the downtown Northwest Bank branch.

Individuals can also donate online at easternusa.salvationarmy.org/western-pennsylvania/warren; or by mail, marking the gift “Red Kettle.”

“We’re really trying to make sure we reach our goal so we can continue to serve the community,” Budd said. “We know how the community of Warren has a heart to help their neighbors.”

In an effort to boost fundraising, workers from United Refining will be ringing bells for the campaign outside the Country Fair on Pennsylvania Avenue today. The group has promised to match anything put in that kettle up to $3,000.

Funds raised by the campaign stay local to allow Salvation Army programs in the community to continue year-round.

“People don’t realize the money we raise now isn’t just for the holidays,” Budd said. “It supports us the whole year.”

Red Kettle campaigns began in the 1890s when a Salvation Army captain decided to try to fund a meal for 1,000 San Francisco residents by placing an iron kettle out. Within a decade, efforts had spread across the country to fund meals for those in need. Today, the campaign funds more than just meals, has spread worldwide and benefits more than 4.5 million people.