Salvation Army Captain Heather Fudge and Christmas kettle campaign volunteer Louise Harveyt set up a kettle at the Greenwood Mall Friday to launch the annual campaign to help families at Christmas. Similar kettles have been set up in Middleton, Bridgetown, and Digby.
Lawrence Powell
A tradition of helping others
Salvation Army Christmas kettle campaign under way
By Lawrence Powell
Spectator
NovaNewsNow.com
The Salvation Army’s tradition of Christmas Kettles is back once again, and the need to help out the marginalized residents of the area hasn’t diminished. Last year the sometimes desperate situations of families outstripped the need of the year before.
Captain Heather Fudge isn’t sure what’s in store for this season, but she’s encouraging people to give what they can to support people who could be their next door neighbours.
Friday, Fudge and Nictaux Falls Salvation Army volunteer Louise Harvey set up the first kettle at the Greenwood Mall. Even before Harvey found a chair to sit in, the kettle was starting to fill up with bills and change. An encouraging sign.
Other kettles were set up at the Middleton liquor store, the Pharmasave in Bridgetown, and Sobeys and SuperStore in Digby. It’s a big region to cover and Fudge is hoping that donations up until December 23 will be enough to fill Christmas boxes for literally hundreds of families – including scores of children.
Last year they filled 245 boxes with children’s toys, and 204 Christmas boxes for singles and families. Food boxes for singles and couples married without children stretch all the way from Digby to the Kings County line. The boxes filled with toys for children are delivered from Lawrencetown to the Kings County line.
Fudge said until the November 30 deadline for applications is reached, she won’t know how many families the Salvation Army will be dealing with. And while she hopes all applications will be in by that date, she won’t be surprised if there are a few late ones.
Fudge said the kettle campaign is primarily for Christmas, but any extra funds help sustain the organization throughout the year when people come to the Bridgetown headquarters seeking assistance.
Harvey will stick with the kettles until Christmas – like she did last year. And like she did when she was a youngster in Digby, sitting with her grandmother who was a volunteer back in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Harvey wants to see everybody have a merry Christmas – with enough food and toys for the kids to make it truly festive.
Asked why she volunteers for the kettle campaign, Harvey’s answer was simple: “I do it for the Lord.�
by Larry Powell/Spectator 
