Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
CLOVIS — The Christmas season comes to a close, but with it comes the knowledge of helping families in need.
Salvation Army Corps Officer Lt. Kelly Berggren said as of Thursday that $2,000 was raised by the organization through the Empty Stocking Fund.
“People in Clovis always come through late, so I’m assuming more will be added to that,” said Berggren.
The amount raised comes up short of the $7,500 goal Berggren set at the start of the fund, he said, but it still makes an impact.
“I’m assuming we’re not gonna reach that but whatever we got helps the people that need it most in the community,” Berggren said.
But the organization is surpassing other goals.
Through the red kettles, the organization raised 10 percent over last year’s amount of $60,000, Berggren said.
“We’re doing well there,” he said. “The snowy Saturday (last weekend) put us back a little bit, but we’re doing pretty good.”
The organization’s direct mail appeal looks to be significant this year as well, Berggren added, although they will not have final numbers until after today.
“The Angel Tree has done really well. We collected enough toys to meet the needs of children,” said Berggren. “We always have toys that come up even after Christmas Day.”
Plateau Wireless also donated 110 toys this year, and the Salvation Army was able to help 225 families just with the Angel Tree tags.
It is possible past Christmas the Salvation Army will receive more funds, Berggren said.
“That’s about 700 kids we were able to provide toys for,” said Berggren. “With the Empty Stocking Fund we were able to help certain families a bit more. Each taste is different but it makes it a bit more special for the families. In one way or another the needs are always met.”
Besides the money put forth by the Salvation Army, Berggren hopes to raise $5,000 this year.
“Some of the funding we put in, if we can get that back we can help in other areas,” said Berggren. “We budget about $5,000 for the Empty Stocking Fund. This business is always full of surprises.”
