CALGARY -- Bells won't be ringing out at shopping centres across the province for the rest of this holiday season after the Salvation Army altered its Christmas Kettle campaign to comply with safety restrictions.
The organization announced that as of the end of Dec. 12, all of its volunteers will be pulled from the Christmas Kettle locations throughout Alberta.
"Since the beginning of our campaign this year, the safety of our volunteers and donors has always been our first priority," explained Major Al Hoeft, the Salvation Arm's divisional secretary for public relations, in a statement released Friday morning. "In response to the increasing cases and the recent safety protections by the province and AHS, we will no longer have volunteers ringing the bells at our kettles in Alberta."
Donations to the kettle campaign can be made online at Fill the Kettle or by calling 1-800-SAL-ARMY.
As of Sunday morning, shopping centres and retailers in the province must restrict customer capacity to 15 per cent of fire code occupancy as mandated by the province. The restrictions will remain in place until Jan. 12, 2021.
