Red Kettle campaign falls $12,000 short this year

Robert Medley, Fort Smith Times Record
·3 min read
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The bells stopped ringing three days early this year.

Volunteers who stood outside stores to collect donations dropped in the traditional red kettles faced dangerously cold temperatures as Christmas Eve neared this year.

Fort Smith's single-digit weather and sub-zero wind chills halted their efforts before Christmas Eve. But raising money online continues.

Fort Smith Vice Mayor and board director Jarred Rego rings a bell during the Salvation Army Red Kettle Campaign in Fort Smith at the Walmart Supercenter on Rogers Avenue Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2022. Donations were reportedly down for the holiday campaign.
Fort Smith Vice Mayor and board director Jarred Rego rings a bell during the Salvation Army Red Kettle Campaign in Fort Smith at the Walmart Supercenter on Rogers Avenue Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2022. Donations were reportedly down for the holiday campaign.

The Red Kettle Campaign in Fort Smith for 2022 fell about $12,000 below the goal, Salvation Army Capt. Bradley Hargis reported.

The campaign for 2022 raised $128,245.18.

"Thank you so much to everyone that contributed to the campaign," Hargis posted on Facebook.

But the goal was $140,000, he said.

"This means that we will fall short of our budgeted goal," Hargis said.

Inflation, the rising costs of food and housing, were reasons given for a downturn in giving before the cold hit and halted the last minute push to raise money outdoors.

"But, we still need your help. Due to the extreme cold that has moved into the River Valley, we had to end our campaign three days early," Hargis posted.

Hargis is hopeful $11,754.82 could be raised online to make up the difference.

Nationwide, Red Kettle Campaign drives reported donations were down, Hargis said.

The downturn in donations will be felt in the summer months, when the Salvation Army offers day cooling centers when the weather gets dangerously hot outside.

Hargis said the Salvation Army's budget depends a lot on the Red Kettle Campaign to get through the year. He compared the campaign to filling up an airplane with fuel and then hoping it doesn't run out before the fiscal year ends in September.

He said there may be a need to plan an extra fundraising event.

Shirley McCutchen, left, and Joey McCutchen, right, holds a bell he rang with volunteers for the Fort Smith Salvation Army Red Kettle Campaign Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2022 at his law office in north Fort Smith. Donations were down this year.
Shirley McCutchen, left, and Joey McCutchen, right, holds a bell he rang with volunteers for the Fort Smith Salvation Army Red Kettle Campaign Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2022 at his law office in north Fort Smith. Donations were down this year.

One of the bell ringers this year was Fort Smith's Vice Mayor Jerrod Rego who collected donations at the Walmart Supercenter on Rogers Avenue the day before the cold front dropped temperatures outside.

McCutchen, Sexton, & Napurano Law Firm hosted a “drive and drop” donation event Tuesday, Dec. 20 outside the law firm in north Fort Smith. The Salvation Army's advisory board members helped with the collections.

Volunteers Hank Needham and Steve Jackson helped collect donations for the Fort Smith Salvation Army Red Kettle Campaign outside the McCutchen law office in north Fort Smith, Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2022. Donations were reportedly down for the holiday, seasonal drive.
Volunteers Hank Needham and Steve Jackson helped collect donations for the Fort Smith Salvation Army Red Kettle Campaign outside the McCutchen law office in north Fort Smith, Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2022. Donations were reportedly down for the holiday, seasonal drive.

Warming and cooling centers

The cold snap before Christmas Day resulted in a shift of focus from the Red Kettle Campaign to the safety of unhoused people in Fort Smith.

A frozen pipe burst and flooded the warming center. Plumbers were making repairs Tuesday to restore the water pressure there, Hargis said.

There were families who live in vehicles who came in from the cold and stayed in the warming center during the day, he said.

A mother and a father showed up with three children under age 2, he said.

On days with temperatures 32 degrees or lower, the Salvation Army operates a warming center for families 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Salvation Army 504 N. D Street Fort Smith, Arkansas 72901.

And the center is open in the summer for people to cool down in the heat of the day.

The telephone number is 479-783-6145.

To find out more about how to make donations go to salvationarmyfs.org.

This article originally appeared on Fort Smith Times Record: Salvation Army donations are down in Fort Smith