The Salvation Army was off by more than $8,000 from its goal of raising $80,000 through its annual kettle campaign over the holidays.

Despite the shortfall, Ian McKenzie, the Army’s local executive director, says officials are grateful for the generosity of Yukoners.

In an interview this morning, McKenzie said the fundraiser, held just ahead of Christmas each year, saw numerous residents donate money, along with volunteer time to the cause.

“The people of Whitehorse are generous,” McKenzie said, going on to thank the community for its support.

One of the challenges faced early in the campaign, and possibly a major reason not reaching the $80,000 goal set for Whitehorse, was that a number of long-time volunteers are getting older, McKenzie noted.

Consequently, they’re finding it more difficult to staff the kettles for longer periods.

In the days just before the campaign ended, it was announced that the Yukon government would take over ownership and operations of the Centre of Hope shelter and transitional housing units that the Salvation Army has been operating since late 2017. The transition is set to happen by the end of this month.

Much of the money collected through past kettle campaigns went into the Salvation Army’s shelter operations – last year at the Centre of Hope and before that at the former shelter the Salvation Army operated.

McKenzie said it doesn’t appear the announcement had an impact on donations. It was made in the last four days of the campaign, when donations were coming in at their highest pace.

For the first time, at select locations, this year’s campaign also permitted those giving donations to provide them via debit or credit card.

While McKenzie said “it got used some,” it did not make a big difference in donations, with less than $1,000 coming in via the debit machines.

With the campaign now wrapped up and the Yukon government getting set to take over the shelter, McKenzie said, the money raised through the kettles will go toward the Salvation Army’s continued programming in Whitehorse.

Exactly what that programming will be at this point is unknown, McKenzie said.

Over the next few weeks, he noted, officials will be looking at what services the community wants and needs that the Salvation Army can offer.

Along with the kettle campaign, the Army hosted its annual Christmas dinner at the Centre of Hope on Dec. 25, providing a festive meal with all the trimmings to 348 people.

That’s around the same number who came out to the 2017 Christmas dinner. However, it’s a major increase over years earlier, when between 200 and 250 would typically show up.

McKenzie said this year’s meal was a success, with a “good volunteer base” on hand throughout the day to set up the dining room, prepare, cook, serve the meal and clean up after.

Even with such a large number of people on-hand, McKenzie said, there was plenty of food to go around. The exception was carrots, as staff ran out of the vegetable toward the end of the meal.

Overall though, McKenzie said, the meal was a success, enjoyed by the many people who dropped by.