The Genesee County Salvation Army kicks off Christmas a tad bit early this year with Christmas in July. For the first time in The Salvation Army history volunteers will be out with the red kettles, ringing the bells and collecting donations for current activities and for early preparation of the coming holiday. The volunteers will be located throughout Genesee County during the last two weeks of July.

"As donations continue to dwindle and the need continues to grow, it has become necessary to dust off our red kettles to seek additional funds to support children's activities and our community outreach programs," states William Goodwill, Genesee County Business Manager.

In 2009 with the communities support The Salvation Army was able to provide over $1.3 million in financial assistance to area families to help them remain in their homes—avoiding evictions, foreclosures, and utility shut offs.  "During our Christmas assistance program last year, more than 4,800 people received toys, clothing and boxes of food so that they would be able to share the joy of the holidays with their loved ones," Goodwill says. "The supplemental food program provided 6,245 boxes of food to hungry Genesee County families."

If you or someone you know is interested in donating time by volunteering at one of The Salvation Army red kettle locations click http://www.salarmygenesee.org/ for a list of kettle sites, dates and times. Or call (810) 232-2196 to schedule volunteer time by phone.