May 21, 2012
The Salvation Army’s annual Red Shield Appeal only managed to door-knock half of Kingaroy on Sunday because of a shortage of volunteer collectors.
However Kingaroy Salvation Army Captain Allan Kerr was full of praise for the collectors who assisted, as well as the generosity of the South Burnett as a whole.
While the final numbers still aren’t in, Captain Kerr said today it seemed likely that the region would meet its 2012 collection target, or come very close to it.
This is particularly significant in light of the fact that nationally, the Red Shield Appeal did rather poorly this year. Queensland was the worst, recording a 50 per cent decrease in contributions.
This was followed by the Northern Territory (down 42 per cent), NSW (down 40 per cent), Western Australia (down 22 per cent), the ACT (down 16 per cent) and South Australia (down 13 per cent).
Only Tasmania (3 per cent) and Victoria (13 per cent) showed any increase.
Salvation Army spokesman Major Bruce Harmer, commenting on the disappointing national figures, said he knew many Australians were “doing it tough” and household budgets had been impacted by increasing costs of living.
“But we thank Australians for their tremendous generosity towards The Salvation Army and encourage those who haven’t yet given to please send in their donations,” he said,
Locally, the Salvos will be holding a second collection in Nanango next weekend. They’ll also be collecting at Kingaroy’s IGA Supermarket on Saturday and at Goomeri’s Pumpkin Festival on Sunday.
Donations can also be made at the Salvation Army’s Family Store at 27 Pound Street in Kingaroy.
