Eastern Plumas doubles its Salvation Army donations
By Debra Moore
Nationally, the Salvation Army has seen donations to its annual Red Kettle program decrease, but locally, the exact opposite is true.
Michelle Ridley, who is the Salvation Army representative in Eastern Plumas, expressed appreciation to Portola and Graeagle area residents for their generosity — more than doubling last year’s contributions. “We collected $1203.80 this year,” she said. “All of the funds stay in our area.”
That compares to the roughly $500 collected last year. Kettles were placed on counters at the Graeagle Store and Mountain Hardware in Blairsden, as well as at Leonard’s, Ace Hardware, Rico’s and the Village Pharmacy in Portola. Ridley said that $600 was collected in the Graeagle Store kettle alone.
In Quincy, where bell ringers rather than counter kettles are used, the organizers skipped this holiday season. “We just had to cancel this year,” Boland said, citing the difficulty in finding bell ringers, as well as the reluctance of some stores to have people standing outside of them due to COVID concerns.
Juanita Williams is a Salvation Army area coordinator headquartered in Susanville who oversees Plumas as well as other Northern California counties. She reported that the Chester area raised about $1,200, which is about the same amount as was raised last year. In Chester bell ringers raised the funds.
Williams said it has been a mixed bag across the district with places such as Red Bluff posting lower donations, but areas such as Susanville doing better than normal.
She said that some people contributing to the Salvation Army in Susanville said it was their first time and she wasn’t sure what to attribute that to. There is a Salvation Store in Susanville, which she said is helpful in raising awareness about the organization.
Though donations increased, there was some difficulty in coordinating bell ringers in the Susanville area. Williams said some were reluctant to be out and potentially exposed to the virus, while others refused to wear a mask — a requirement this season. The difficulty in finding bell ringers wasn’t limited to Plumas and Lassen counties, Williams said her counterpart in the Sacramento area experienced the same issues.
