Findlay Salvation Army again beats red kettle goal

FINDLAY — For the second year in a row, the community helped the Salvation Army best its holiday goal. The annual red kettle campaign brought in $107,887, surpassing this year's mark by nearly $8,000. Major Mike Morales said he again set the goal at $100,000 due rising costs. "And it's not me doing it. It was the community," he said. Mike and his wife, Major Dianna Morales, are commanding officers and pastors with the Findlay corps. He said he wasn't sure they would meet the goal until the week of Christmas. "I was putting out little videos asking, 'Can we make the goal? Can we make the goal? I know you guys can do it. You've done it before,'" he said. Earlier in December, Mother Nature threw them a curve ball. Mike said they had a freeze and he didn't realize it until he heard on the news that the wind chill was down around 0. "So I went out and started telling everybody, 'Go home, go home,'" he said. They still had a record-breaking day after getting some checks for the campaign, said Mike. "It was definitely a God thing," he said. On Monday, Dec. 22, more bad weather hit the city. "I was going around telling the people, 'I don't want you out here. Just go home.' All but two of them said, 'No, we're staying out here. We're going to stay,'" Mike recalled. They hit the goal that day, he said. "At that point, there was one more full day and a half day. We got that $7,000 in a day and a half," he said. "That's when we figured, God must have given us that much for a reason," added Dianna. The community really stepped up, according to Mike. "I feel very honored, I really do. We all feel very honored," he said. "They trust us with every single penny, trust us to help our community. But that penny is also showing the care of one for another in our community. It's like thank you for giving me that honor to be able to earn that trust and be a part of the care of the community." He said last year was first time the Findlay corps ever brought in $100,000. "It's a good feeling," said Dianna. "I know when you're a bell ringer, it changes your perspective on humanity because you see the kindness." She said the families that took tags off the Angel Trees went "over and above" in filling the children's wish lists. "A lot of them, we didn't have to add any Toys for Tots toys because they were well supplied. They had clothes and toys, and they were just very well blessed," she said. The annual toy drive the Salvation Army does with channel 13 ABC brought in double the amount that it did the year before. "That just got the ball rolling. It was like God's blessing us," said Mike. "It started with that and it just kept accumulating until it ended with our kettles." Dianna said not all of the children were adopted off the Angel Trees. "We probably had 100 kids that didn't get on the tree because they just weren't taken quick enough. But the ones that were taken were well done," she said. Families were adopted, and the annual canned food drive held at various schools also did better this year, they said. "So there were a lot of avenues that people were helping. It was a lot of blessings, a lot of volunteers, a lot donations, and that's how it works. That's how we get it done. That's how people get Christmas," she said. "It takes the whole community and Hancock County, not just Findlay, but Hancock County to make it all work because if one piece is missing, it doesn't work." Businesses and individuals volunteered their help this year, said Dianna. And a family came in every morning to help count the donations. The money collected helped fill in the gaps at Christmas. The remainder will assist with the agency's programs as well as its own expenses. "Usually the $100,000 doesn't last all year," Dianna said, adding that another fundraiser is being considered for April.