Salvation Army Falls $300,000 Short Of 2014 Holiday Goal

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – For just the second time in more than 10 years, the Salvation Army in the Twin Cities fell short of its fundraising goal during the 2014 holiday season.

Officials said the Salvation Army raised $11.2 million in a span of 92 days. It was about $300,000 short of their goal of $11.5 million for the 2014 Christmas campaign. Officials said it's only the second time in the last 15 years that they've fallen short of their goal.

Salvation Army officials said they are looking for another $10 million in public donations between now and the end of September to support social service programs around the Twin Cities.

Officials said their red kettle campaign also fell short of its goal. They collected about $3 million as volunteers spent about 16,000 hours bell ringing. They fell $50,000 short of their 2014 goal.

Over the holiday season, the Salvation Army helped 3,000 homes with gift cards for meals, served more than 1,400 hot Christmas meals and gave about 25,000 local children toys and gifts.