The Salvation Army Caring Place’s annual Christmas kettle campaign kicked off Friday, marking the start of the holiday season.
The Sally Ann’s Christmas kettle campaign is as synonymous as its Red Shield logo; when one thinks of Christmas, one thinks of the Salvation Army, the bell ringers, and their kettles.
The kettles are at eight locations in Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows: Real Canadian Superstore; Safeway; Save-On-Foods at 203rd Street; Zellers; Valley Fair B.C. Liquor Store; Cooper Foods; Cineplex Odeon Meadowtown Cinemas; Canadian Tire; Fox’s Reach Liquor Store; Maple Ridge Liquor Store; Save-On-Foods at 227th Street; and ValleyFair Mall, east entrance.
All funds raised through the kettle campaign go directly to the Caring Place meal program, which provides 9,000 meals a month to the most needy in our community.
In addition, the Caring Place also provides over 100 bagged lunches each day for children of low-income families at various schools in Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows.
Join The Caring Place at a “Kettle Season Celebration” on Saturday, Nov. 27 at Zeller’s in Maple Ridge from 10 a.m. to noon, where the Ridge Meadows Flames team and Salvation Army volunteers will be ringing in the season with hot chocolate and entertainment for all ages.
This Christmas, also consider giving the gift of your time. To volunteer for the Christmas kettle campaign, call Amy McNutt at 604-463-8296, ext. 104 or email bellringer@caringplace.ca. Volunteer shifts are flexible and can fit any schedule.
Caring Place:
The Salvation Army Caring Place is a multi-function facility focused on providing the essential needs of food, shelter and support to the residents of Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows.
The Salvation Army is an international Christian organization that began its work in Canada in 1882 and has grown to become the largest non-governmental direct provider of social services in the country.
The Salvation Army gives hope and support to vulnerable people today and everyday in 400 communities across Canada and more than 120 countries around the world.
The Salvation Army offers practical assistance for children and families, often tending to the basic necessities of life, providing shelter for homeless people and rehabilitation for people who have lost control of their lives to an addiction.
Sally Ann
This year the Salvation Army Caring Place will provide:
• More than 100,000 meals for the hungry
3,900 meals during our Saturday night street ministry;
• 10,000 shelter nights for the homeless
15 transitional housing beds;
• 30 Cold Wet Weather mats each night from November 1– March 31;
• one community crisis response unit responding to emergencies;
• Christmas food and toys for 50 families;
• back-to-school supplies for 120 students in our community;
• more than 30,000 nutritious bag lunches to school age kids;
• an opportunity of a lifetime by sending more than 70 at-risk children and teens to Camp Access to a transition home to help stabilize the trauma faced by homeless families.