Salvation Army gets last-minute chance to meet goal

An anonymous donor is willing to contribute $6,000 if the organization can raise an additional $5,000 by Jan. 10.

The Mon Valley Salvation Army got good news over the weekend when an anonymous donor pledged to match funds for the organization’s Red Kettle Campaign.

Capt. Kara Martin took to social media Sunday night to announce that they had collected $49,843.95 out of their $60,000 Red Kettle goal. Martin also shared that if they managed to raise an extra $5,000 by Jan. 10, an anonymous donor would match it with $6,000 to ensure they reached their goal.

Martin was delighted when the anonymous donor told her the news.

“My heart started jumping for joy. And I was like, ‘Oh, we, we’re still in this, we’re still in the race,’” Martin said. “The donor understands what we do for the whole year and how all year we’re fundraising whatever we need because we’re a nonprofit.”

Donations can be made online at https://easternusa. salvationarmy.org/western pennsylvania/MonValley, or donors can drop off checks made out to “Salvation Army Mon Valley” at the Donora location at 800 Thompson Ave.

Anyone with questions about the Salvation Army services or how to donate can contact Martin at kara.martin@ use.salvationarmy.org or call 724-684-4282.

Donors can also text the word “Kettle” to 31333, where they can reply with their ZIP code to ensure each donation goes directly back to their Salvation Army.

“I am tearing up because this is such a blessing!!” Martin wrote on her Facebook post. “Please, if you know anybody that is willing to help us out to make this goal, please share this with them. Their donation is 100% tax deductible and not only that, your donation goes back into the community.”

Martin said this year they gave out around 3,000 toys to children in the Mon Valley for the holidays. Through the year, they’ve served 158 families, 291 children and have given out 180 food baskets.

Martin emphasized that it couldn’t have been accomplished without the help of the Mon Valley community.

“We couldn’t have done it without you, without the tags, without the toy drives, without the toy collection, these children would have nothing,” Martin stated on her Facebook page. “So I thank you. I thank you, from the bottom of my heart. I’m still getting videos of their kids with the toys, and we’re getting cards, and it’s just a blessing, how you see the before and after of things in people’s lives.”

This year, the Mon Valley Salvation Army hosted a Red Kettle kickoff event to start their annual fundraising campaign, which Martin said was a lot of help. Overall, Martin said they raised more money this year than in 2024.

“It was such a beautiful year, like just even the conversations that we have with people and the conversations at the kettle and the conversations with the parents, and it was just absolutely spectacular,” Martin said.

“The donor understands what we do for the whole year and how all year we’re fundraising whatever we need because we’re a nonprofit.”

CAPT. KARA MARTIN

SALVATION ARMY