Prince George, B.C. – The Salvation Army’s Christmas Campaign in Prince George  topped the  target of  $250 thousand dollars.

Salvation Army Business Manager Bill Glasgow says the 2016 campaign  raised a total of $270,526.00   That is the total of the Tree of Lights and the Kettle campaign .

The amount raised is pretty much on par with  last year’s total   which was  just over $271 thousand.

Glasgow says Friday the 23rd of December  was a  big day for the campaign,  “Friday’s total for the kettles was  just under $20 thousand dollars   We had a lot of extra  help in there, so we are  very appreciative of everything the community has done to help us reach our goal.”

He says  the Salvation Army was concerned  about  reaching its goal because of the  changes in locations for the kettles and reduced access times at some  prime locations,  “I knew we could do it, and we had a full  schedule ( of volunteers).”

There are challenges  though  that Glasgow says  the Salvation Army  is looking to address for  future  Christmas campaigns.  One of the challenges  is that   many people don’t  carry cash,  just a debit or credit card.  “We are looking at  for next year is doing some sort of online kettle campaign  or  some type of online  fill the kettle campaign to  join the 21st century.”

“We will be looking for new ways to reach the millennial market” says Glasgow  “There is a  market out there for millennials who  only use plastic or debit and  buy things online,  so I think that’s something we  have to do,  because we’ve seen cash donations at  some of our regular locations, where you would expect to see a lot of activity,  go down because   people are just using the debit card.”