Findlay beats Salvation Army red kettle goal

FINDLAY — It was down to the wire, but the community came through and helped the Salvation Army meet and beat its red kettle drive goal for the second year in a row. The final tally for the Findlay corps came in at just over $101,000, according to Major Dianna Morales. This year's goal was set at $97,000. "It's always the last day for some reason," she laughed. "The last couple of days were really good, thanks to all of the people in the community. "With everybody's help, we did a great job." She and her husband, Major Mike Morales, are corps officers and pastors at the local Salvation Army. The money collected fills in the gaps at Christmas while the remainder helps the agency with its programs the rest of the year, she explained. It's also the Salvation Army's only annual fundraiser. "Along with what we get from United Way, that's how we keep running," Dianna said. This is the second time the agency has gone above and beyond its goal. The 2023 red kettle goal was shattered by more than $16,000. The mark was set at $80,000. By the end of the campaign, $96,659.70 had been raised. Bell ringers did face challenging weather conditions this year when a blast of cold arctic air blew through in early December. Dianna said the wind chill was so low, her husband directed them to pack up early — he didn't want anyone to freeze. But by the end of the campaign, which concluded on Christmas Eve, they were back on track. Dianna said the staff celebrated after finding out how much had been raised. When counting the money, every $20 bill they found in the kettles called for a song to be played on a musical Snoopy figure, she said. A $50 or $100 bill got a song as well as a little dance by the staff. "It's so early and you're worn out. It's something that energizes us," Dianna said. She said they didn't have a lot of volunteers help with the campaign this year, but were thankful for those that did offer up their time to ring bells, sort and bag toys and food, and help with distribution. When there aren't enough volunteers, the corps will hire people for kettle duty. But even that option is becoming expensive with the rising minimum wage, Dianna said. Currently the wage is $10.45 an hour. An increase to $10.70 is expected this year. "Minimum wage is going up again this year," she said. "I don't know how much longer we can afford to pay people because we have to be able to make their pay plus all the taxes that we have to pay." But Findlay is generous. "God takes care of things and people are so kind. Findlay is awesome. Even like the adoptions and the whole thing because a lot goes into Christmas. We have special angels that help with every detail and that's a blessing," said Dianna. She said the agency had more families — and more children — seeking help this year. "It was good. I mean, we didn't have a whole lot left over, which we usually don't. By the end of the list, we were kind of scraping," she said. The campaign also receives help from the Toys for Tots program, she said. There are currently no plans to add any new programs this year, said Dianna. "Right now we're going to try to keep going with the programs we're doing with our day camp and our afterschool programs and the food pantry," she said. For now, the pantry has food available, she added. "We had some stuff left over from Christmas that's getting us through," she said. "It's month by month, you know? It depends on how many people come in a month and what's available for us to get from the food bank or whatever." A lot of times she'll go to the store and buy peanut butter. "For some reason we don't get that and I feel like that's a staple," she said. "If you've got peanut butter in the house, you've got food in the house." The agency accepts food donations from the public throughout the year, she noted. "So if they're at the grocery store and they see peanut butter or whatever and they have extra money in their pockets, we'd be glad to have it and we give it to people," Dianna said. "We don't get jelly either, but at least jelly's just like an extra. It makes a peanut butter sandwich even better."