Red Kettles manned by Salvation Army volunteers are about as omnipresent as mall Santas, toy advertisements and Christmas carols during the holiday season, and that is the way its officials like it. From November through Christmas, volunteers can be found in front of nearly every supermarket, mall or department store ringing bells and collecting money for those in need, totaling more than $130 million nationwide last year.

This year, however, with more people in need than ever before, the Salvation Army has upped its already lofty fund-raising goals, and is relying on their most successful area location to help them, the Burke Wal-Mart.

“[The Burke Wal-Mart] raised more money than any other location in the region [last year],” said Maj. Steve Morris, the Salvation Army’s area commander. “People in Burke have been extremely generous, and we just pray that this will be a hugely successful campaign and with their help, it will be.”

Because of that success, the Salvation Army kicked off this year’s campaign in the D.C. Metro region at the store Thursday, Nov. 12, welcoming special guests Alison Starling of ABC 7, Melanie Hastings of News Channel 8 and Bob Madigan of WTOP Radio, all campaign partners, to help with the festivities. Morris gave a speech celebrating the start of the campaign and outlined the specifics of this year’s efforts. In 2008, the National Capital Region raised $1.3 million, and that the goal for this year is $1.5 million, which will be attainable, Morris said, because of an analysis of the distribution of the kettles.

“We’ve really moved up our goal,” Morris said. “The need is so great and it has increased from last year, so we did a huge analysis to make sure that were doing it smarter, not harder.”

The analysis had led the Salvation Army to roll out kettles at 292 different locations in the region this year, with hundreds of volunteers working two-hour shifts. In addition to Salvation Army volunteers, Morris said that police and fire departments, church groups and other community service organizations have also volunteered to man kettles, and he also hopes to get commitments from local schools whose students need to fulfill community service requirements.

“It’s time to put the onus on us to help out,” Hastings said. “We all know someone who has lost a job or house or failed to make rent payments. There are people in the area who are hurting.”

After speeches by Morris and the three guests, Wal-Mart employees and guests put the first dollars into the kettle, officially signifying the start of the 2009 campaign. Though the goals may be higher and the need greater, the Salvation Army’s area leaders are confident that the continuing generosity of area residents will allow them to make things a little easier for people in need.

“We are always amazed at the generosity of our jurisdiction,” said Capt. David May of the Salvation Army’s Fairfax Corp. “We don’t offer anything to the donor. They simply give, trusting us to do the right thing. We are always moved by that expression of support and trust.”

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