By Neil Doyle

BLOOMINGTON – Due to the ongoing pandemic, the Salvation Army is starting its iconic Red Kettle campaign earlier than ever before.

Because of several factors related to COVID-19 – including social distancing rules and fewer holiday shoppers at stores – the organization expects that contributions to its Red Kettles will drop substantially. The Salvation Army of Bloomington development director Angie Bubon spoke with WJBC’s Scott Miller.

“We’re trying to be creative because people aren’t going into stores as much and are doing more curbside pickup. We are going to offer online Red Kettles starting in October. We are trying to find different ways for people to support because I think we are going to see an increase in need for our food pantry and our Christmas assistance program,” Bubon said.

She said the iconic kettles won’t be visible until November, but donations are vitally important as they make up about 21% of the organization’s budget which goes towards local programs.

Nationally, 82 cents of every dollar donated to the Salvation Army goes directly toward funding Salvation Army initiatives.

More information to donate or volunteer is available here.

Neil Doyle can be reached at [email protected]