Fernie Christmas Kettle Campaign ongoing

The Salvation Army’s annual Christmas Kettle Campaign is ongoing, and a card-tap option has been added to two of Fernie’s kettles for those who wish to make a cashless donation.

The fundraising campaign started on Dec. 1 and will be running until Dec. 24. Tap-able kettles can be found at Eldho’s Your Independent Grocer and at Tipple craft liquor shop, with another regular kettle open by the IGS Value Drug Mart.

Salvation Army major and pastor, Kirk Green, said that kettle volunteers are a “a little scarce” this year with COVID still around. People can donate using the tap option if no volunteer is present, he said.

“What we want the people to know, is that even though there’s nobody standing there, they can still make a donation.”

For those who would be willing to donate a couple of hours of their time to stand at a kettle, the Salvation Army could still use volunteers, Green said.

Tap donors will have the option of making either a $5, $10, or $20 contribution.

This is the first year in Fernie that the Kettle Campaign provided a tap option for donations. Last year was the first year they digitized the process with regular 4-digit-pin machines.

Marianne Agnew was volunteering at the Eldho kettle on Tuesday (Dec. 7) afternoon, playing a ukulele and wearing Christmas attire. She was volunteering through Mountainside Community Church.

“We’re happy to support our Salvation Army here, they do so much good work in the Elk Valley,” she said.

The Christmas Kettle Campaign is the Salvation Army’s “single largest fundraiser,” Green said.

“It supplies the funds for all our Christmas hampers and the toys that we provide to the people that need them.”

Money that doesn’t get used for Christmas goes towards the food bank and other assistance the Salvation Army provides throughout the year.

They hope to bring in $8,000 through the campaign this year. Last year, their goal was around the same, $7,500 to $8,000, and Green says they hit their goal.

“We want to thank the people of the community for their support.”

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