Salvation Army thanks organizations, local businesses for help with holiday campaign
Maria Cervantes of Elgin said without the Salvation Army, her family wouldn’t have had a Christmas in December after she lost her husband the week of Thanksgiving.
She spoke during Thursday’s Salvation Army Elgin Corps’ partner recognition breakfast and thanked those in attendance for providing some much-needed happiness at Christmas for her four children.
“I didn’t expect to have the help,” she said. “I didn’t have time to think about gifts. Everything to me was to be canceled. But the community didn’t forget about me, especially the Salvation Army.”
The Elgin Corps arranged for a family to “adopt” the Cervantes family for the holiday, providing gifts and a Christmas experience for her children.
The Cervantes family was just one of many helped by the Elgin Salvation Army last year. The group also served 667 families and over 1,500 children with gifts, pajamas and meals through their Hope for the Holidays program.
They thanked local service organizations, schools, businesses and other volunteers Thursday for their contributions to the organization’s annual Christmas campaign, which funds most of the Salvation Army’s annual budget.
The campaign raised $235,027 between Nov. 2 and Dec. 23.
Major Melissa Viquez said it couldn’t have happened without those in attendance.
“Together we demonstrate to our community that there’s still hope and love around Elgin,” she said.
The organization gave awards during the breakfast at Elgin Community College to groups for their fundraising efforts.
Bob Karas and the Karas Restaurant Group were awarded the Christmas Impact award for their many contributions to the fundraising campaign.
St. Edward Central Catholic won the high school challenge and was awarded $5,000 from Tom Roeser of Otto Engineering for its efforts. Roeser annually rewards the winner to help promote philanthropy with young people.
Shales McNutt Construction raised the most money in the Virtual Kettle program, while the Elgin Brass Band won the group bell-ringing award. The Elgin Breakfast Rotary Club raised the most money for a service organization during all-volunteer day, while the Reynolds family and friends were the top all-volunteer day fundraisers.