Cook County News-Herald publisher Deidre Kettunen was one of the many community members who took a turn at bell-ringing.
A question that Mary Sanders, Cook County’s Salvation Army kettle-campaign coordinator, has been hearing is, “How do we donate by check if we want the gift to be used locally?” This question arises especially when the donor receives a mailed solicitation from the Salvation Army office in the Twin Cities. Theanswer is to either put the check directly in one of the local red kettles or get the check to Donna Gestel at Grand Marais State Bank. Donna is the volunteer treasurer for Cook County’s service unit.
All donations received locally will set budget for the local service unit’s next fiscal year. The local service committee, chaired by Arvis Thompson, can decide how to use this fund for “Doing the Most Good”
in Cook County.
A priority is to meet emergency needs that are unmet by other means and would certainly include food, shelter, and fuel. Thenthere are special programs like Back to School,
which provides school supplies, backpacks, boots or coats; Merry
Christmas for All
bringing gifts and food for Christmas; or Easter Dinner on Us
working with the Food Shelf and giving a dinner to 68 families in the county this past spring. Funds provide the contents of Christmas Fruit Baskets
that our local Girl Scouts assemble and deliver in senior apartment buildings, serving 150 people last year.
Your local Salvation Army service unit can’t spend more than what we have taken in during the kettle campaign. However, if Cook County experienced a natural disaster beyond our budget, the Army would step in to provide relief.
That brings us back to the kettle campaign and the importance of attendants at the kettles. Donations in the kettles are directly proportional to the number of hours attendants are at them. Last Saturday’s full schedule of attendants yielded full kettles at both Johnson’s Foods and Gene’s IGA thanks to the efforts of Cornerstone Community Church members and men from Bethlehem Lutheran. As of December 8, donations exceed $2,000.
If you can be part of this, phone Mary Sanders at 387-1729. Your time is a precious gift!
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