Street Level Needs Remain High

By 250 News

Requests for help coming in to the PG Salvation Army outpace the country 2-to-1

Prince George, B.C. - The Executive Director of the local Salvation Army says the need for assistance in our city is double the national average.

And Pastor Bruce Kirk says, "To be honest with you, while there's been a lot of discussion that the economy is turning around, we have not seen that at street level at all."

Since the downturn, the number of people seeking some form of help from the Salvation Army -- be it emergency food, clothing, or shelter -- has increased 25-percent across the country.

But here in Prince George, it's jumped by 50-percent.  "That's the number of people coming through our doors looking for some type of assistance, it's now over six-thousand per month, on average," says Kirk.  "Just two years ago, we were at two-thousand."

The 29th Annual Toy Run for the Sally Ann roared through the streets yesterday and marked the kick-off to the 2010 Christmas fundraising season.

Photo at right shows Corey Walker volunteering at a Christmas kettle set up in the parking lot of CN Centre for the toy run...though the majority of funds raised will be used to cover the costs of providing the participants a hot dog lunch and dessert.

Kirk says, "This will really set the tone and the pace for us, in terms of what kind of assistance we're able to provide this year."  He does point out that fundraising totals are down about $30-thousand dollars, to date.

Kirk urges anyone interested in volunteering for the upcoming Christmas Kettle campaign or wanting to make a contribution, to call the main office at 250-564-4000.

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