COLORADO SPRINGS — Amid depleted reserves, lackluster donations and fewer grants, the Salvation Army’s local chapter could cut services should too little money end up in its signature red kettles, the nonprofit’s leader said Monday.
The agency needs $410,000 from this year’s annual Red Kettle Campaign to avoid a budget shortfall and cuts to its programs, which largely help homeless people in El Paso County, said Maj. Richard Larson, who heads the Salvation Army’s chapter in El Paso County.
The organization, with an annual budget of between $3.5 million and $4 million, operates Colorado Springs’ largest year-round homeless shelter, the R.J. Montgomery Center, along with a new shelter open only during cold-weather months.
This year, the stakes are high because the organization recently depleted its $175,000 reserve fund amid poor returns during last year’s campaign, Larson said, along with fewer donations.
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