The Salvation Army of Marshalltown is reminding the community that the annual Red Kettle Campaign will start soon after the calendar flips into November.

The campaign is The Salvation Army’s largest Marshalltown-area fundraising effort of the year. The donations that come in during the campaign not only fund local social-services operations (such as food and utility assistance) during the busy Christmas season, but for the rest of the following year as well. All donations stay local and help those most in need around the Marshalltown community. The campaign starts Nov. 8 and goes through Dec. 24.

Donations can be made in a variety of ways to The Salvation Army of Marshalltown. Two of the easiest ways for people to give are:

• Online at marshalltownredkettle.org

• At local red kettles that stand in front of storefronts

The red kettles will be deployed around town starting on Nov. 8 — at local stores including Walmart, Hy-Vee, Fareway, Hobby Lobby and Theisen’s.

The Salvation Army of Marshalltown’s overall Christmas fundraising goal for this year is $191,435. The organization aims to raise $55,000 of that overall total via local red kettles.

The Salvation Army also reminds the community that it needs a large number of volunteers to staff the various red kettles around town in the weeks ahead. Anyone interested in volunteering at red kettles can go to registertoring.com to do so.

The Salvation Army of Marshalltown greatly appreciates the community’s support of this campaign.