The Red Kettle campaign in Amarillo fell short of its goal for 2017.

Christmas is over and the Red Kettlebells have gone silent. Unfortunately, the campaign that provides most of the funding for the Salvation Army fell short of the projected goal of $250,000.  The final take was around $219,000.

Last year the campaign raised $231,000 and this year was short by $12,000.

The decline is attributed to many factors, one being people carrying less change and using debit and credit cards almost exclusively.  The Salvation Army also had fewer volunteer bell ringers and many no-shows that resulted in their being fewer kettles in prime locations. The Salvation Army had to pay more bell ringers than usual and that cut into the final tally.

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