Prince George, B.C. – The Salvation Army’s Christmas kettle campaign in Prince George is doing quite well, thanks to the generosity of area residents.

The Army’s Business Manager, Bill Glasgow, says at over $26,000 “I’m happy to say we’re about $8,500 ahead of where we were last year at this time.  We had a great start and we’ve been able to maintain our momentum.  Obviously we still have some vacancies that we need to fill, so the more people that call in and fill a spot the better we’re going to do.”

Glasgow says he has about 275 volunteers right now and is running at about 85% capacity in terms of volunteers needed.  He says another 10 to 20 volunteers are required each day, depending on the length of shift they take.

Those wishing to volunteer some kettle time can contact the Salvation Army Christmas Wish Centre at (250) 596-HOPE (4673).

Meantime, Glasgow says donations to the Tree of Lights “are probably a little down from this time last year.   It’s a slow-moving campaign although I must say we’ve made a lot of changes to the campaign.”  He says those changes were “an attempt to make it look a little more 21^st century.  So it may take a while to catch on.”

Glasgow says I’m hoping that spending a little money on promoting our Facebook page might actually bolster some community support.  He invites everyone to visit the Facebook page, the Salvation Army Tree of Lights, and check out the Events page to keep track of the five events over the next five weeks which, he says, provide “great bang for the buck and are a great way to do some good for the community and a great way to do some enjoyable family stuff.”

Those events include a petting zoo, climbing with Santa at Overhang, and skating at the Outdoor Oval.  Each of those events is offered for just $5.