The Salvation Army Red Kettle campaign in Owen Sound was a huge success.
Despite a slow economy with a lot of people out of work, spokesperson Alice Wannan says the people of the Scenic City and area came thru at the last minute.
In fact, the Army exceeded their goal of 80 thousand dollars and collected just under 88 thousand dollars in 2011.
Wannan says it is more amazing, when you consider that the Red Kettle campaign in 2010 brought in just under 70 thousand dollars.
On the Monday before Christmas, the Salvation Army was pressing the panic button with the drive about 40 thousand dollars short of the target.
Even on Friday before Christmas, Wannan told us that a big contribution from Walmart and its’ customers left them about 97 hundred dollars short of the target.
However, Wannan says the Friday and Saturday prior to Christmas pushed the campaign way over the top.
Meanwhile, in Port Elgin, the Salvation Army set a goal this past year of 25 thousand dollars, and Wannan says they were just shy of that total.
Across Canada, the Salvation Army Red Kettle drive brought in 20 million dollars, a record.
The organization had two thousand kettles across Canada on the 120th anniversary of the Red kettle drive.
