Salvation Army exceeds tsunami relief goal

The local Salvation Army exceeded its goal of raising $10,000 in January for its South Asia disaster relief campaign.
Thanks to donations from local schools, the Fort Frances Ministerial Association, and individuals in the district, the Salvation Army found it had a total of $10,283.47 by the end of last month, Capt. Angel Sandoval said.
“It’s wonderful. Our goal was fulfilled,” he enthused.
Capt. Sandoval noted the total will, in fact, end up being larger than that since the Salvation Army raised $3,384.97 before Jan. 11—the deadline for which any funds raised for tsunami relief would be matched by the federal government.
The fundraising was a mixture of efforts ranging from a kettle campaign to fundraisers at schools, a prayer vigil, and a benefit concert organized by the Fort Frances Ministerial Association.
Robert Moore School students turned in two donations—one of $944.97 and a second amounting to $554.
The kettle drive raised more than $2,000, as did the prayer vigil and concert.
And some individuals just gave donations to the Salvation Army on their own. “We’ve had cheques come in for $500. There were some large individual donations,” said Capt. Sandoval.
But he was not surprised to see the fundraising goal reached in just one month.
“We’re confident in the community we have here,” Capt. Sandoval said, adding the district has proved its generosity over and over again each year with the Christmas kettle campaign and letter appeal.
“I am really, really happy. The community has reason to celebrate,” he remarked.
The results of money donated to the Salvation Army’s South Asia disaster relief fund already can be seen, he noted.
For example, the prime minister of Sri Lanka, Mahinda Rajapakshe, laid the foundation stone for the Salvation Army’s Galagoda Wattha 244-acre housing project yesterday in the Galle district of that country.
This will see an entire community created for 1,000 families there, and include houses, community centres, a medical clinic, playgrounds, income generation opportunities, and other community infrastructure, the Salvation Army reported on its website.
The Salvation Army also is working on rebuilding a community in India.
The Salvation Army in Canada announced Thursday that Canadians had donated $4.8 million to its South Asia disaster campaign, which, with the addition of matching funds from government, will enable the group’s long-term development plans for the affected areas to proceed.