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Virginia Beach families make final push for holiday donations as Salvation Army reports a decrease in volunteering

Holiday donations forge ahead through coronavirus-related obstacles.

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — It's a sight and sound that's become synonymous with the Christmas holiday: the Salvation Army's red kettle donation baskets and festive bell ringers.

But like most things in 2020, the Red Kettle Campaign has taken on a different look because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Many of the volunteers who help the Salvation Army for raising funds, volunteering for Angel Tree donations, this year we didn’t have as many volunteers," Maj. Donald Dohmann, area commander with the Salvation Army told 13News Now on Christmas Eve. 

RELATED: Adopt an angel (or more than one) this holiday season as part of the Angel Tree program

Dohmann estimated that volunteering efforts had been reduced by roughly 50-percent across various Salvation Army efforts, citing people's concerns about being out in public during the pandemic. 

"This year we’re behind, but we know that a big part of that is because we’re not out at as many locations, but that’s because we don’t have the volunteers to be at those locations," Dohmann said. He estimates the in-person bell ringing efforts are approximately $50,000 less than previous years, but individual kettle locations are returning higher individual donation totals, too. 

On Dec. 24, volunteers rung the Salvation Army bells for hours at the Virginia Beach Kroger in Providence Square, some continuing years-long traditions as long as two decades, despite the pandemic.

“We love doing it on Christmas Eve morning. We feel as humans, we’re called to help our fellow man all the time, but it’s different around Christmas time," Sandi Granger said.

“In this particular year, with the pandemic, it reminds us we need to give back. It takes two hours out of our day," husband Pierre Granger said. 

“It’s about a slice of normal. It’s something to appreciate to be able to do things, two weeks ago I wasn’t sure if I would be able to," Jackie Stein said, who herself spent 30 days bed-ridden after testing positive for COVID-19 earlier this fall. 

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