Elgin Salvation Army rings in the season of giving with Red Kettle kickoff event
Ready or not, one of the iconic sights and sounds of the Christmas season will be popping up around the area next week as the Salvation Army Red Kettle campaign begins Nov. 9.
The Salvation Army Elgin Corps kicked off the annual Christmas drive Thursday at Rookie's RocHaus in West Dundee and got off to a strong start, raising more than $10,000 from the event.
This year's "Love Beyond Christmas" campaign theme highlights that even though the fundraising happens during the holidays, the money collected funds the organization for the entire year.
"As Christmas goes, so goes the Salvation Army," Development Director Rick Reigner said.
Last year, the Elgin Corps' fundraising provided 21,138 instances of assistance to area residents including 2,160 cases of emergency rent and utilities assistance, 4,670 bags of groceries, 14,749 Christmas gifts and 12,214 essential supplies such as baby formula, diapers, cleaning supplies and personal hygiene items.
Eighty-two cents of every dollar the Salvation Army raises goes directly to programs.
New commanding officers Majors Roberto and Melissa Viquez will experience their first Elgin Christmas season after arriving in July.
"We love it here," Roberto Viquez said. "From day one we've seen that the need is great here and we want to be part of the solution."
Last Christmas, the Elgin Salvation Army provided gifts and clothes for 973 families through its Angel Tree program. Melissa Viquez said they have over 400 families signed up already and are expecting to exceed last year's number because of new migrant families coming to Elgin.
"These are families that don't have anything, kids that are probably cold right now that are not used to this weather, and those kids need us to provide something for them to wear this Christmas," she said.
Originally from Costa Rica, the couple said their Hispanic heritage will be a benefit as Elgin and the Salvation Army are seeing an uptick in newcomers from Central and South America.
"We're seeing a lot of refugee families and when you are in a different country where you don't speak the language you feel lonely, you feel like there's no way that someone is going to pay attention to you, but we want the community to know that we are here to support whoever needs help," she said. "These people need help and we are here to serve."
Anyone interested in donating to the Angel Tree program, participating in the Adopt-a-Family program or bell ringing as an individual or organization can visit centralusa.salvationarmy.org/elgin/brighten-the-holidays/.