Once again, Sarnia residents have come through for the Salvation Army and its Red Kettle campaign.
Salvation Army Lieutenant Brad Webster said they surpassed their goal of $140,000 on Wednesday.
"I believe this wholeheartedly, we live in one of the most generous communities that I've ever seen," he said. "We just want to thank the community as a whole for throwing their support behind us and we want to make sure that everybody has a very Merry Christmas this year."
Webster said this year may end up being their most successful campaign in the last three years. So far, $159,311 has been raised.
However, there's still time to raise more funds as kettles will be out until noon on Christmas Eve. For those who don't have cash or change on hand, Webster said there's also a tap option for debit and credit cards and receipts will be given to those who use cheques.
Funds raised through the campaign will stay within the community.
"Our funding actually goes towards our food bank and any community program that we run out of the Salvation Army here in Sarnia," said Webster. "It could be our medical programs, our dental programs, our rental assistance, utility assistance -- any one of those programs, it'll go right back into funding in the community and helping people who need it."
This year's Red Kettle campaign kicked off on November 18.
Webster said initially there were concerns about not having enough volunteers because they weren't sure what to expect during another season in a pandemic.
"People have come out and supported [us]," he said. "It's just unbelievable the amount of support we've received through volunteers who were willing to spend a couple of hours [with a] kettle per day."
Last year's campaign raised over $166,000.
