Donna Edwards with Weyerhaueser present Captain Peter Kim with a cheque for the Chirstmas Kettle campaign

By Liam Verster

Christmas Kettle Campaign

Donation from Weyerhaeuser helps top Christmas Kettle Campaign fundraising goal

Dec 23, 2020 | 11:00 PM

The Grande Prairie Salvation Army’s annual Kettle Campaign managed to surpass its fundraising goal of $500,000 thanks to some last-minute donations.

On Wednesday, December 23, the not-for-profit received a cheque from the Weyerhaeuser Giving Fund for $57,000, which Captain Peter Kim says helped push them past their goal of $500,000.

In fact, the donation helped the non-profit reach a total of $593,110.77 as of December 23rd, which Kim says is a record breaker for the organization.

“On behalf of all the families and individuals who we help year round, I would like to thank all our donors for your continued support of the work of The Salvation Army in Grande Prairie and the Peace region,” said Kim.

The money raised through the Christmas Kettle Campaign will go towards funding a range of supports and programs offered by the Salvation Army.

“It’s not just our food bank, it’s all the programming that we do with our Emergency Disaster (Canteen) services, with our community kitchen, and with our Pathway to Hope,” says Kim.

“So, we’re really trying to help our community and meet those needs, and thanks to all the generous donors in our community, we’re going to be able to meet those needs.”

Kim says it was a hard year to raise money as the in-person portion of the Kettle Campaign had to be halted due to concerns over COVID-19. Despite only raising around $100,000 by that time, Grande Prairie residents and organizations stepped up to help the cause through mailers and online donations.

“I’ve always said that Grande Prairie is a generous community and they really do step up when the need is greater,” says Kim. “We know that we can count on this community to support the work of the Salvation Army.”

The Salvation Army also put together and distributed 1,228 hampers consisting of food, toys, and gift cards, more than they put together last year.