Salvation Army finds new location for kettle campaign following Rochdale Walmart fire

The Salvation Army relies heavily on donations through the charity’s Christmas Kettle Campaign.

Following Tuesday night’s fire at the Rochdale Walmart, home to one of their kettles, there was concern over a potential loss in funds.

Those concerns quickly faded as another business came to its aid.

The Canadian Tire in the north end of the city stepped up to continue the donation drive.

“For us, we collect donations throughout the city. It was a pretty significant loss for us,” said David Cox, Salvation Army business manager in Regina.

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“Sometimes in these moments of adversity, you learn about the heart of people that just want to jump in and help and make a difference. It was a really big boost for us.”

On top of finding a new location, Walmart also gave Salvation Army some good news on Friday.

Each year, Walmart Canada matches kettle donations at every location.  The company will still do that for the closed location based on last year’s success.

Cox said that they are always looking for new locations, and encourages stores across the city to play host to their kettle campaign.

“We just find that people in Regina get behind the kettle campaign because it’s a campaign by Regina people for Regina people,” Cox said.

“Stores can jump on board – we’re thrilled to set up even small kettles on their counters so we are always looking for partners. In this case, they help in the light of adversity.”

All proceeds raised from Regina’s campaign go towards a number of initiatives in the city including toys for kids, sending kids to camp and providing Christmas hampers to the less fortunate.