Santa Delivers To Meet Salvation Army Goal

Hartel's Disposal "picks up" the tab; provides $25,000 to help reach holiday goal.

FOX21 reported earlier this week that an anonymous Santa stepped in to help the Duluth Salvation Army this year.
Today we all learned who that special Santa is.

The Salvation Army says it was Hartel’s Disposal that disposed of the donation shortage. It did so in the form of a check for $25,000 that the company delivered Thursday.

The contribution is what was needed to reach the Army’s goal, in spite of a show of support from the community throughout the season.

“People really did put forth an extra effort,” said Cyndi Lewis, Director of Development for the Duluth Salvation Army.

“Like when I was at Super One, and people didn’t have cash, they went into the store, and that was during the round-up at the registers. They went into the store, and they came back out with cash,” Lewis said.

She added, “I did have one person stop and say, ‘I don’t have anything but fifties, but I heard you’re down,’ and then he shoved a fifty into the kettle. The great thing, Christmas is nutso here, but it’s also a time when we see great things like every single day. And it’s a really nice thing to be part of an organization and a community that can kind of come together,” Lewis said.

Lewis said they hope the Red Kettle campaign raised enough to continue funding all their programs, but she says they won’t have final numbers until the end of January.

When asked if the “Kettle Queen” would return next season, Lewis–who played the role–said the response was positive, but it’s too early to say what next year will bring.