Salvation Army kettle campaign kicks off in Tillsonburg, Port Rowan
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This year’s Salvation Army kettle campaign has started in Tillsonburg.
“It kicked off on Thursday, Nov. 19, and the support has been good so we are really thankful,” Captain Nancy Sheils, Salvation Army – Tillsonburg and Area, noting as of Monday they had two kettle locations at the Tillsonburg Town Centre mall and the Salvation Army Thrift Store on Broadway.
The kettle in the mall is manned, said Sheils, where patrons can donate cash – putting donations in the kettle – or make a donation through a portable point-of-sale machine.
‘Tip Tap Pay’ machines are on the way, expected to come in this week, which will allow the Salvation Army to offer unmanned kettles at local grocery stores.
“Tip Tap Pay is a contactless way to pay,” Sheils explained. “You use your tap card, whether it’s debit, Visa or Mastercard, and you can pick $5, $10 or $25 donations. You just tap your card over it and you’ll hear a beep when the transaction is completed.
“We hope the support will there for the Tip Tap Pay system too. Every week we will update our banners at each site on how we’re doing for that particular kettle.”
Sheils said it is possible the new contactless system, which was tested in Toronto last year, might be expanded to include other businesses in town.
“Of course, with COVID this year, it’s a way to do kettles keeping everybody safe. For me, that’s a big concern. I want to keep our volunteers safe as well as those who would like to donate to us.”
The goal for the 2020 kettle campaign, which will run until 2 p.m. on Dec. 24, is $55,000 to $60,000.
“We do have four kettles in Port Rowan as well. They are manned, but they are outdoors. That little town usually raises $8,000 to $10,000 in the kettles, so they raise about one-fifth of what we raise here in town.
“We service the Port Rowan area as well, so people needing hampers come here and throughout the year we do a variety of work there,” Sheils noted.
“They’re just awesome people down there.”
cabbott@postmedia.com
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