The Whitehorse Salvation Army has managed to partially recover from what was looking like a disastrous Kettle Campaign this year.

Claudine Kirby, who has been organizing the campaign, told the Star last Friday, “I am pleased to announce that the donations received during the Christmas Kettle campaign this year was $47,112.

“It may not be what our goal was, but this is an awesome outcome that could not have been achieved without our wonderful volunteers and the generosity of the Whitehorse community.”

Kirby added, “We can receive donations year-round at our office or by mail.”

Two weeks ago, Kirby and the organization were less enthusiastic about the campaign.

“The Salvation Army’s annual Christmas Kettle Campaign comes  to an end Saturday, Dec. 23rd, but they are extremely short of their $65,000 goal,” the Sally Ann said in a statement then.

“To date, they’ve  reached only $26,580, and have 35 empty shifts – one location has no volunteers at all.”

Kirby said the campaign was in a disastrous state.

Five years ago, when she last organized the Kettle initiative, there was a base of nearly 200 volunteers to fall back on.

Now, it’s fewer than 40. There simply aren’t enough warm bodies to go around.

“It’s very difficult,” Kirby said. “We’re really hoping for a miracle turnaround this week.

“We were hoping to expand our program (s),” Kirby added.

“We will have to reduce the number of clients we serve throughout the year at our food program,” she said.

The organization helps about 100 people a month with food needs.

The Salvation Army had been hoping to increase that to 150-200 people a month, but will be hard-pressed to maintain the current levels.

The Kettle Campaign is nearly the sole source of funding for the Army’s annual needs, Kirby said.