Salvation Army gifts Christmas toys, meals to families
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Roughly 1,500 Marshalltown residents received some items to help make their Christmas a little brighter. They were given the opportunity to carefully choose Christmas gifts for their children and receive holiday meals on Wednesday morning.
The Salvation Army of Marshalltown set up a winding path, lined with bundles of toys, through the gymnasium. Families wandered through with a volunteer shopper who placed selected toys into a cart. Not only were the families able to provide some Christmas gifts for their children, but they received a box of food for a holiday meal.
Envoy John Hofer said families had to fill out applications for the toys, which helped the Salvation Army volunteers and staff know which section of the path would benefit each child.
"We try to do one big toy and two little toys for the most part," he said. "When we get into the older age groups, it's one or maybe two because it's a little harder and more expensive to donate."
Hofer said they intend to send every family with a board game or activity -- something that would engage all members together rather than a child playing alone.
Blaine Fisher, he said, did a wonderful job in collecting toys for the Salvation Army.
"He brought in a quarter of what we have," Hofer said. "The UnityPoint ambulance crew did a fantastic job Saturday at Menards. People have provided very well."
The Salvation Army also had the annual Angel Trees in stores. Even though it was his first year, he said it seemed the Angel Tree donations went really well. Around 400 children were represented -- an increase of 25 from last year, Hofer said. Slips of paper, bearing the first names of children, their ages and the child's toy wish are hung from an Angel Tree. People wishing to ensure more children have a joyful Christmas choose a slip, and then buy the requested toy. The purchases are then placed in barrels or boxes. Salvation Army volunteers and staff collected the barrels of toys on Wednesday to give to the children.
After the toy section in the gymnasium, Hofer said families were able to pick through sections of clothes and household items before acquiring a food box.
An additional 50 families without school-aged children received meals, as well. The Salvation Army received some ham and turkey donations, but Hofer knew there were not enough to cover the need. He reached out to JBS for help.
"JBS really came through for us," Hofer said. "They donated 222 half pork loins. That was great, because we were getting close to our food budget and we did not have our meat secured yet."
JBS wanted to make sure the donation was going to stay local first, he said, and were more than happy to help out when told the pork loins would benefit residents.
"Over 1,000 pounds they donated, close to $4,000 worth of meat," Hofer said. "To me, that's awesome. I was getting ready to buy a lot, so this was very helpful."
While donations of toys, household items and food seemed to come easy, he added Red Kettle donations have not kept the same pace. The hope is for the Red Kettles to raise $60,000 of the $173,000 Christmas fundraising goal. As of Wednesday, only $24,000 has been raised from the kettles. For the fundraising goal, $130,000 has been raised, with most of the money coming from mail donations.
One reason the kettle donations might be down is the lower number of volunteers ringing bells. Hofer estimated 1,700 hours are needed to meet the goal. So far 745 have been filled, and there are only 11 more days left. He plans on filling some of the ringing time to help make the goal a reality.
On Dec. 20, Hofer will be at HyVee from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., ringing the Red Kettle bell and getting to know residents in the community.
"It's also an opportunity for people to ask me any questions," he said. "It's going to be a fun day. Hopefully, we'll be able to raise a good kettle and meet people I haven't met yet."
The famous Red Kettle gold bar donation has also not appeared yet. Hofer is not quite sure it will. Looking through previous press releases, he saw the gold bar was usually donated around Thanksgiving.
"Everyday we anticipate and look," Hofer said. "It's a novelty that people in the community like to hear about. But when we get the kettles ready for deposit, every now and then, we find a $100 bill. To me, that is a huge blessing, because I know what $100 means to me. The gold bar is that feeling times 10."
However, he has hope the Red Kettles will reach the $60,000 goal, gold bar or not.
"The closer we get to Christmas, we tend to do a little bit better with the kettles," he said. "The last few days, historically, are the best. Right on top of Christmas, people feel a lot more generous."
Contact Lana Bradstream at 641-753-6611 ext. 210 or lbradstream@timesrepublican.com.