Salvation Army reflects on past year; gives outlook for 2018
The generosity of the Friendly City continues to stand out as a Salvation Army official reports that more than 500 families were able to benefit from hamper program during the recent busy holiday season. The community came together to help the Salvation Army in reaching its targets last year through its hamper program and kettle campaign. Major Dan Broome of the Salvation Army says approximately 575 families were able to benefit at Christmas, along with many toys being distributed to children.
“At Christmas time, approximately 575 families were able to benefit from hamper gift cards. Persons received gift cards to shop for groceries at Safeway and Co-op. Gift cards were valued from $50 to $150 which was based on the size of the families. Children were also given toys for Christmas,” he said. “We also received over 500 toys last year that we got to dis- tribute to children. The remaining toys are kept in storage and will form the basis of our hamper program this year again.” In addition, the Salvation Army’s Kettle Campaign raised over $60,000 in comparison to $58,000 in 2016. “We surpassed our target in 2017 compared to the previous year. We raised $66,000 compared to $58,000 in the previous year. We wanted to raise the same amount of money or surpassed it and we’re happy we got to raise more.
“Last year was a good year for us because we met all our targets. It is been steady over the last few years. Between the kettle campaign and our walk-in donations, we were able to meet our intended targets, raising the same or more compared to previous years. The need for supplies was also similar to that of the year before.” There were some complaints from some persons about changes to the process of obtaining the hamper gift cards. He said persons were asked to provide more information. “Nothing really changed. Persons were just asked to provide more information.Nobody was turned away and there are no eligibility criteria. We asked them to provide information on things like source of income and address, just to make sure that persons receiving items were actually from Moose Jaw, for checks and balances. Persons who came to us were assisted as usual.”
He expressed gratitude to the community and local businesses for their continued support. “We want to thank the people of Moose Jaw for their support of the Salvation Army. The Friendly City is very generous towards us and we appreciate the support. We do our best to be good stewards of the money they entrust to us.” Going forward, he says, “this year, we’re moving ahead with our Emergency Assistance Program and other programs— hopefully we’ll also develop some new ones. We want to do more in the community. We’re looking forward to a really good 2018.”