Jefferson City, Columbia Salvation Army making final push to reach campaign goals

JEFFERSON CITY — The holiday season is over, but the season of giving is all year round for non-profit, charitable organizations like The Salvation Army and the American Red Cross.

The Salvation Army of Jefferson City is making a final push to reach its Christmas Campaign mark. The organization set a $330,000 goal for the campaign and, as of Jan. 1, 2020, had raised $282,494.63, which is 85.6 percent of the goal. The campaign runs through Wednesday.

While people throughout the community have shown their generosity with donations, the Salvation Army has been putting in overtime over the past year, with so much disaster. Salvation Army Capt. Justin Windell said the Salvation Army’s 24-Hour Emergency Shelter, Center of Hope, has run at 100 percent capacity since the May tornado and summer flooding. He said capacity has been double on a number of nights when the Salvation Army has implemented its cold cot program during extreme weather conditions.

"We're a 31-bed shelter and actually if you averaged out how many people we had for the year divided by 365, we actually average 32.5 people each night," Windell said. Many of those numbers include families with small children.

Windell said in 2018, the Jefferson City Salvation Army served 25,000 meals this year and as of October 2019, Windell said they had served 27,500 meals.

"We have increased by 2500 people from the year before of how many people we serve in our feeding program, so we're always looking for groups that can come serve and provide the meal," he said.

Help at the Salvation Army Thrift Store is also needed.

"Almost all our programs are working at capacity right now, so these are vital programs that we need help to be able to sustain and work throughout the rest of the year," he said.

To help The Salvation Army to continue to help those in need in Jefferson City donations can be dropped off or mailed to The Salvation Army, 927 Jefferson St. Jefferson City, MO 65101. Or call at 573-635-1975, ext.1.

The Salvation Army Columbia is also falling short on its Christmas campaign goal. So far, they have raised $292,355 of their $408,000 goal, which is 71.66 percent.

In 2018 The Salvation Army in Columbia provided over 17,000 nights of safe shelter and over 40,000 meals in Boone County alone and provided assistance to over 4,900 individuals. An official said their Christmas Campaign is important each year as it covers 1/3 of what it costs to operate their programs all year long.

"Our Christmas Campaign is about more than just toys, it's about assistance all the way through 2020."

The campaign ends Wednesday and to give, you can visit their website or go in person to donate at 1108 West Ash S January 15.

Please give today: https://donate.stlsalvationarmy.org/give/171812/ or The Salvation Army, 1108 W. Ash St., Columbia, MO 65203.

While the Salvation Army has played a major role this year, so has the American Red Cross. In 2019, the American Red Cross of Missouri said volunteers responded daily to the needs of people displaced by a crisis like floods, tornadoes, hurricanes and fire. The American Red Cross of Missouri is made up of 90 percent volunteers. Throughout the state the American Red Cross provided the following:

• Served more than 1.1 million meals and snacks
• Distributed financial assistance to nearly 376,000 individuals to cover urgent needs
• More than 79,000 overnight shelter stays
• Over 354,000 relief items distributed
• Over 420,000 free smoke alarms

While the American Red Cross has been successful in providing throughout the year, currently they're in 'critical need' for blood donations of all blood types.