Salvation Army pushing to meet fund goal

The Salvation Army in Minnesota and North Dakota is still pushing to reach its 2012 Holiday campaign goal, after falling about 7 percent short.

The charity set a $9.8 million goal for its 2012 Twin Cities Christmas campaign, down slightly from last year. But spokeswoman Annette Bauer says that donations haven't met expectations -- including a nearly $100,000 gap in expected donations in the group's signature red kettles.

"We've seen our larger donations, those that are 50,000 and above. We've got those. So now, what we're hoping for is those gifts that are 50 dollars to a few hundred dollars. Of course, we'd need thousands of those to make our deficit up. We're about 700,000 dollars short of our 9.8 million dollar goal," Bauer said.

It could be the second year in a row that the organization, based in Roseville, has missed its goal. The charity is still taking mail and online donations to fund programs like utility assistance, hot meals and housing assistance.

Online: Salvation Army North

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