Salvation Army officials see increase need for donations this year

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    PITTSTON, Pa (WNEP) — All over Northeastern and Central Pennsylvania, the red kettles and bell ringers are out, but in the midst of this pandemic, Salvation Army officials have serious worries this season.

They expect to have to help 155 percent more people this season because of the tough economy, but they also expect donations will be down to less than 50 percent compared to last year.

“There are a lot of families who have lost their job, have been laid off, who haven’t received a paycheck, so we’re trying to prepare early to help them as best we can,” said Lt. Gavin Yeatts of the Greater Pittston Salvation Army.

Local Salvation Army officials say this pandemic has hit so many so hard, and that includes their organization.

They rely on this holiday fundraiser each year — this year marks the 130th year of the campaign — but the challenges this year include a coin shortage, fewer shoppers out and about, and more folks struggling to make ends meet.

“We offer services of sheltering the homeless, providing gifts on Christmas morning, Thanksgiving meals, Christmas meals. We’ve been helping people with utilities. We’re starting early to rescue Christmas; rescuing Christmas is kind of our theme this year.”

Because Salvation Army officials expect fewer in-person donations, they have other campaigns they hope will help.

“If you have Amazon Alexa in your home, you can simply say, ‘Alexa, give to the Salvation Army,’ and give an amount you will pay. On your smartphone, you can text ‘kettle’ to 91999,” said Lt. Yeatts.

The Salvation Army is also looking for bell ringers for the campaign. Each must wear masks and gloves. They said finding those people has been very difficult because of the pandemic.

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