News : Benton County – A Giving Community

Salvation Army has a successful 2023 Red Kettle Campaign. We are grateful for the willingness of folks to ring the bell! We know some days it was cold or drizzling, and yet we often hear people say, "I enjoy doing this. It's actually fun!"

The Salvation Army of Benton County received $21,139.49 this Christmas season from the 2023 Red Kettle Campaign. The gold coin that was received on Saturday, December 2nd was worth $2,050.

We say thank you to all of the people who gave coins, cash, checks and yes, the donation of time! It all adds up. Our goal was to raise over $20,000 and we did that because of compassionate and giving hearts in our county. On December 8th, we received $96.00 in coins alone. Usually, that amount is around $40-$50.

I heard many positive comments. "I believe in what you're doing." "Thank you for the work you do." One person stated, "I will always give to Salvation Army because they were the first ones to help my loved one when they had a house fire (in another Iowa town)."

We had approximately 324 hours of bell ringing from approximately 233 volunteers. That's a lot of volunteers! Sometimes a family of 4 rang. The After School Program at Harvest 365 Church had 19 youth and 3 adults help with ringing. As you see, the numbers can add up easily here too.

It is such a blessing when some area churches fill a day(s) of ringing for us. Thank you to Bethlehem Lutheran, Blessed Hope, First Christian, Vinton Presbyterian Youth and Wesley United Methodist Church. We also appreciate organizations like Kiwanis, Knights of Columbus and Lion's Club for ringing a full day.

ARC, North Star, REM, After School Program of Harvest 365 Church and the VS Girls golf team also came out to volunteer as members of our community and did a great job! Many area businesses sent their employees to help ring the bell. Farmers Savings Bank and Johnson Realty rang for most of a day. The Fareway employees have always rang the bell for the last day of the season. That is a big help as that day is always hard to fill.

A big shout of thanks to Fareway Inc. and Manager Dave Kelchen for allowing us to ring at their storefront. We would like to ring at other stores or in other towns, but finding enough volunteers would be an issue.

Things We Do....

In 2023 we assisted nearly 100 families in Benton County (including 129 adults and 97 children) with

* rent, utility bills, medical bills, repairs, etc

* continue to assist Cedar Rapids Corps with the distribution of sack lunches at area homeless shelters on Saturday mornings

Giving Can Be Year-Round!

If you want to mail in your donation, send it to: Salvation Army, Benton County Service Extension, 1201 C. Ave, Vinton, IA 52349. (We are a 501c(3)).

Or donate through this link: https://donate.salarmywestern.org/give/451439/#!/donation/checkout

You can also use the QR code for cashless giving. (Simply use your phone's camera setting to direct you to the website.)

The Salvation Army service extension unit of Benton County is looking to add team members. Currently, we have 11 members. Call 319-329-7119 to find out more.

Pictured: Team members (l-r) Terie Wehage, Joe Wehage and Dave Gleason work to put together the sack lunches to hand out to the homeless on Saturday morning. Two teams from Benton County Salvation Army assist in a rotation of every 6 weeks to help the Cedar Rapids Corp.