Bigger goal for this year's Red Kettle campaign

(WDAY TV) - It's time to dig deep into your pockets for the annual Red Kettle campaign. Today, the Salvation Army kicked off this year's bell ringing season with a new, bigger goal.

This year it's $650 thousand dollars, $25 thousand more than last year. 31 red kettles at 31 different locations will be staffed with more than 3 thousand volunteers.

Doug Burgum, this year’s honorary chair, says this is the time for people to give back to the Army after they helped us for 62 straight days during the spring flooding.

“We had a chance last year as a community to shine in front of a national spotlight as a place where neighbors help neighbors and where volunteers, literally, volunteers of all ages literally save our cities.”

The Red Kettle campaign earns about 58 percent of the army's annual budget. Bell ringers will be out until Christmas Eve.