Salvation Army of Waco in Need of Donations

A Santa Claus rings a bell for The Salvation Army in front of Macy’s in Union Square on December 22, 2012, in San Francisco, California. “We’re seeing that number increase”.

It is hard to list everything the Salvation Army does in its prospective community.

KMBCs 9 Can Help is partnering with the Salvation Army to help families in need during the holiday season.

The Salvation Army hopes to help 3,000 families and senior citizens this year.

A Salvation Army lieutenant says having volunteer bell ringers during the holidays are critical to The Salvation Army’s mission.

Families apply in October and get the gifts in late December.

Every weekend until Christmas, members of the Orangeville Police Service (OPS) will be collecting donations for its annual Toys for Tots program at various locations across town, including Walmart, Winners and Canadian Tire.

“People today were generous. They helped me when I was struggling so this is my way of paying it back”, said Jessica Cretcher with a bell in her hand. “This is about making sure that our communities show our tradition of generosity towards the neediest among us”.

Riess is also a financial secretary for Knights of Columbus, and said that people from his organization try to help the Salvation Army as much as they can.

So far, the Springfield chapter has raised more than $40,000.

But Schinkal, who previously worked in retail, said this season’s shortfall is consistent with reported Black Friday retail results, indicating that traffic is down this year.

“When you have a volunteer at the kettle everything they bring, and usually it’s more than what the paid ringers bring in, it’s all net”, he noted.