You know the holiday season has begun when the Salvation Army's red kettles come out.
Over the last two weeks, volunteers have been out collecting donations for the organization's Christmas campaign and while Chatham-Kent residents continue to give, the numbers seem to be falling behind.
Major Larry Bridger with the Salvation Army shared that kettle donations are mostly on par with what was given last year, but that's not the case overall.
"The numbers are doing relatively well, as far as the Kettles are concerned, but our overall donations are down. We're down considerably from last year," he said.
As of Friday, November 29, kettle donations had reached $55,421.65, which is about $2,000 less than what was donated during the same time frame in 2023.
General donations had reached $98,050.91, which is down by $32,698.08 from last year.
Bridger said the deficit is due, in part, to the Canada Post strike.
"[The strike] is impacting us considerably," he said. "As I mentioned, we're down $34,000 from last year. A lot of that we would typically get in mail-in donations. So, we're certainly hurting there that's for sure."
For those who normally donate to the Salvation Army through the mail, Bridger is encouraging people to drop off their donations in-person at their offices or in one of the kettles.
"We've got six kettles in Chatham and two in Wallaceburg," Bridger said. "If [you] drop your cheques in there, you'll get receipted the same and it will help us."
This year, the goal is to raise $550,000. As of Friday, $153,472.56 had been raised.
No matter the outcome, Bridger said the Salvation Army is grateful to everyone in the Chatham-Kent community.