Jan 19, 2018 3 min read

Charitable giving is easy during the holidays.

With reminders placed around stores and restaurants – boxes ready to be filled with toys, tags ready to be plucked from trees and kettles ready for loose change and bills – consumers can easily give while running holiday errands.

Now that the festivities are over, the reminders are gone, but the need is not.

“We’re letting people know the Red Kettle campaign funds efforts year-round,” said Capt.Amber Imhoff of Salvation Army in Washington. “It’s our biggest fundraiser of the year, and we fell short of our goal by almost $24,000. We’re playing catch-up to make all of our programs and services run.”

The outreach organization was hoping to reach $90,000 to fund programs, including day camps, a food pantry and rental and utility assistance throughout the year.

“In addition to running an extremely low-cost day camp, we provide funds for unusual circumstances,” Imhoff said.

For example, a father was granted custody of his children two days before Christmas and didn’t have anywhere for them to sleep, said Imhoff.

“We went out and purchased beds so the kids could come home,” she said.

During the winter, the organization also provides showers to those who don’t have access to hot water.

“People get their electricity turned off, apartment buildings get closed, people need emergency housing, kids are going back to school,” Imhoff said. “There are also needs throughout the year. People get sick, have car accidents or get laid off of work. As a whole, we want to be able to help in any capacity we can. Our goal dictates how many we can help.”

The Salvation Army doesn’t receive federal or state funding and is able to help individuals who may not qualify for other programs. There are service units that provide services to every zip code. The Washington Salvation Army provides funds to those service units that need assistance.

Though they didn’t reach the campaign goal, the organization was able to provide toys to more than 400 children, including more than 100 bikes, during the holidays, and provided 207 children with shoes or boots. They also provided 275 households with food for Christmas dinner, and more than 1,000 coats have been distributed this winter.

Imhoff said more people volunteered over the holidays, too.

“It’s cool to think we had over 160 volunteers who had never volunteered with us. Businesses came and brought their employees,” she said. “It’s cool to see the effort there.”

Many volunteers worked in the toy room, sorting and organizing donations.

Each donation had to be recorded, assigned a value and placed in large green bag with the recipient’s name on it.

“We keep everything in numerical order, so it’s a process,” Imhoff said. “We did a little over 400 toys for children, plus the 207 shoes and boots.”

Imhoff said she is thankful for the hard work of volunteers.

“We feel very blessed to be able to serve in the community,” she said. “The Lord has blessed us to continue to serve and help people from all walks of life.”

Donations can be sent to the Salvation Army Worship and Service Center, 60 E. Maiden St., Washington.

For information, visit the Facebook page, Washington Salvation Army, or call 724-225-5740.