With just three days left until Christmas Day, The Salvation Army Maui County is only at 52.9 percent of its $110,000 Red Kettle fundraising goal for the 2022 holiday season. 

Meeting communities’ needs have become more of a challenge every year at Red Kettles due to consumers carrying less cash, the closure of many brick-and-mortar retail stores where Salvation Army would traditionally stand kettles, and inflation, The Salvation Army Hawaiian and Pacific Islands said in a news release as donations collected statewide reached just 67 percent of the $750,000 goal.

Donations have also dropped because there’s more online shopping these days, which means less foot traffic in stores where Red Kettles and donation opportunities are often present, the nonprofit said. 

Capt. Steven Howard, Maui County Coordinator and Corps Officer for the Kahului Corps, noted on Wednesday that the financial difficulties associated with the increased costs of living throughout 2022 have taken a toll on everyone, too, which could be a reason why numbers are down and demands are up. 

And, volunteer hours clocked are lower than previous years, which has forced the periodic closure of some traditional Red Kettles. As a whole, though, he has seen an increase in new faces and groups willing to help and is confident that The Salvation Army will continue to serve those in need.

“It’s really unusual this year,” Howard said. “But, our community, specifically Maui, has always been very generous to us. We’ll be able to provide for the needs of the community even if we don’t meet our goal for the year, but of course, it makes it more challenging if we don’t.”

Red Kettles have been around for 131 years. The donations collected during the annual campaign not only supports the nonprofit’s efforts during the holidays, but for services year round that range from providing meals for the hungry, counseling for individuals and families, relief during emergencies, outreach to the homeless or the elderly and ill, opportunities for keiki and more. 

Donations to Red Kettles stay in the local communities where they are donated. 

“It’s been a little difficult to meet our goal this year,” Howard said. “Red Kettles are very important because they are one of the revenue sources in order for us to provide the services that we do, not just at Christmas time, which we offer a lot of assistance through toys and Angel Tree and food distributions, but ultimately, the funds at Christmas time help us to run the programs that we do all year long.” 

After the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, The Salvation Army locations across Hawaii still tackle high demands for services because of lingering pandemic-related poverty, rising costs for essential goods, and higher expenses for the nonprofit. 

As more and more local families face new economic challenges, The Salvation Army increased their statewide campaign goal for Red Kettles by about $100,000 over the $650,000 raised during the 2021 holiday season, according to a news release. 

For Maui County, Howard said that the 2021 fundraising goal of $85,000 was surpassed at around $95,000 as donations flooded in towards the end of the campaigning season. 

“We needed to have a higher goal this year to meet all those expenses and so that’s why we looked at $110,000 this year,” he said. 

Bell ringers will be staffing the Red Kettles through Christmas Eve, so folks still have a few more days to contribute to the campaign. 

People can also donate in several contactless ways, including virtual Red Kettles at RedKettleHawaii.org or Hawaii.Salva

tionArmy.org. As of Wednesday afternoon, $542 was raised via Kahului’s virtual kettle and $5,304 via Lahaina’s, according to the website. 

Donations can be made to Kettle Pay at Red Kettles around Hawaii using Google Pay, Apple Pay, PayPal or Venmo. The community can use Amazon Alexa by saying, “Alexa, donate to The Salvation Army,” and then specifying the amount or send a check to a local Salvation Army corps. 

Through Dec. 31, customers at all Foodland and Sack N Save stores in Hawaii will be able to make donations at checkout through Foodland’s “Share a Holiday Feast” program to help those less fortunate in Hawaii. Customers may donate cash, change or use Maika’i points to help. 

Those donations will be turned into Foodland gift certificates and distributed by The Salvation Army to families in need on each island where the donations were received. 

In partnership with Aloha United Way, customers may make cash donations at all Burger King Hawaii restaurants through Dec. 31, too. The donations will go towards keiki Angel Tree gifts and provide support for those in need throughout the year. 

Before the year ends, Howard said people can still give a gift by visiting the Kahului Corps on 45 West Kamehameha Ave. or calling (808) 871-6270. 

“Although I’m concerned that early donations have been a bit slow, I remain hopeful we can still make our fundraising goal this year,” said Major Phil Lum, Divisional Commander of The Salvation Army Hawaiian & Pacific Islands, in a news release. “Hawaii has a history of supporting The Salvation Army’s efforts to help our most vulnerable neighbors every year. Even as we face increased needs, I believe our community will rally around us again this year. We’d also like to extend our Aloha to everyone for their generosity and kindness during the holidays.” 

For more information, visit Hawaii.SalvationArmy.org.

* Dakota Grossman can be reached at dgrossman@mauinews.com.