Kankakee Salvation Army facing financial crisis, seeking summer donations

KANKAKEE – The Salvation Army’s fundraising campaign which relies greatly on bell ringers outside of Kankakee County grocery stores came in woefully short.

With a $250,000 goal, Lt. LaToya Surratt reported the entire campaign, which began Oct. 1, 2024, and concluded Jan. 31, generated $167,427, or about 67% of its goal.

On their own, the bell ringers standing alongside their red kettles generated $53,521, or just over 53% of its targeted amount of $100,000.

The lack of holiday season contributions is now being felt by the organization.

The Salvation Army’s monetary campaign is not the only area where a shortfall was experienced. Donations of food, particularly canned goods, came in woefully short as well.

The campaign performed so poorly the organization recently took the unusual step of a summer fundraiser – running from May 1 through July 31 – to collect the $100,000 the winter campaign failed to generate.

However, the summer campaign is currently performing at a level which makes the winter collection seem like a smashing success.

As of midweek, the summer campaign – now at the halfway mark in its sixth week – has collected $125, roughly $21 a week.

At this pace the summer campaign will generate about $250.

While it is certainly true that every dollar is important and welcomed, The Salvation Army and Surratt have far greater expectations than this.

“It did not go well,” Surratt said of the wintertime campaign. “The last couple of years, it had been down. But this year it was significant. People are just struggling. Money just wasn’t coming in. We were pushing. We were out there.”

The bells were ringing. The cash register was not.

There are obvious reasons for fundraising shortages. The first being the economy. Families are working hard to make ends meet in their own homes.

Another is society is becoming increasingly less reliant on actual cash, meaning they don’t carry it. They use credit or debit cards, so dropping paper money into the kettle isn’t an option.

To meet this shift, supporters can donate to the Kankakee location at centralusa.salvationarmy.org/kankakee. Donations can also be dropped off at The Salvation Army, 148 N. Harrison Ave., Kankakee.

Sick feeling

When the cash was counted and the final total was entered into the ledger in January, it would be fair to say it was not a sight to behold.

It likely brought a sick feeling to Surratt and others within the organization.

The money from the wintertime campaign normally helps provide food, shelter and other basic needs for Kankakee County people in need through July.

This year the funds were exhausted by late March. The organization’s new budget year begins Oct. 1. Surratt said she has already had to borrow $208,000 from the national office.

This money is not a gift, she said. It must be paid back.

“We are doing the best we can,” she said.

Need growing

Penny Greenlee, the Salvation Army’s youth services director, said this organization has been here for 130 years and endured many challenges.

She believes this is just the latest challenge.

“We are needed here,” she stated.

She is correct, of course. The organization may be needed more than ever.

Financial times are tough, as most people can attest. Food prices are high, as are utility bills, rent payments and medical needs.

The Kankakee County employment sector also sustained a one-two punch with the loss of a pair of Momence-based employers: sausage production company Johnsonville Foods and chocolate-mixes manufacturer Gilster Mary Lee.

In total, those two firms supplied about 350 jobs.

Unemployment and severance benefits extend only months, not years.

For Alvy Butler, the Salvation Army’s social ministries director, words are difficult to come by. He’s been trying to understand what has caused such donation shortfalls.

He does understand one thing with absolute certainty. The present funding model is one they may not be able to hold on to.

“We were out there,” Butler said. “We were ringing the bells. I don’t understand it.”

‘Anything can happen’

This trio of Salvation Army leaders are keeping a positive attitude.

“Anything can happen here if people want to help,” Greenlee said.

All that’s needed are for 100 people to step forward with $1,000 donations. That combination would equal $100,000.

Some may say: Easier said than done.

“That’s all we need. It can be done. With God, anything is possible,” she said.

The organization has certainly not closed its doors. It has no plans to do such a thing.

There are people to feed, clothes to be washed, lives to be saved.

The noon to 1 p.m. lunch served Monday through Friday in the cafeteria is attracting between 50-100 daily. There are more lunch seekers in the summer months as children accompany a parent.

The location provided 15,636 lunches in 2024. Another 3,313 food boxes were distributed as well as 189 Thanksgiving meals.

In total, the organization touched upward of 24,950 people this past year through various programs.

The site’s food pantry is also open from 10 a.m. to noon and 1 to 4 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday. The organization also aids those seeking temporary shelter.

Along with a summer camp that began Tuesday, The Salvation Army provides other youth programs as well as a free after school program with homework help.

Currently, the location is unable to offer its shower and laundry services due to a lack of volunteers.

“To the point, if we don’t have the money, we can’t help people,” Greenlee said. “Without the money we need, we won’t be able to give people even a bag of noodles. ... We need help.

“The only thing that’s going to save us is our own community.”