“Thank you,” John Ross said to a woman who dropped some loose change into the red kettle as she passed by. “God bless you,” he added as she stepped into the department store’s doors.

Just wrapping up the first hour of his first day spent ringing the bell for the Salvation Army Meadville Corps’ annual Red Kettle Campaign, Ross said he was seeing real generosity coming even from unexpected places.

Before dropping a couple of dollar bills into the kettle, the mother of one family commented that “they may be poor, but there are people poorer than they are,” said Ross. “People are very generous.”

And organizers are hopeful that generosity will keep up as the local campaign — the Salvation Army’s largest annual fundraiser — continues six days a week through Dec. 24. This year’s fundraising goal is $50,000, Salvation Army Major Sue Davies said recently.

Every cent raised directly assists Meadville families and individuals who are experiencing financial difficulties during this holiday season, said Davies. Other towns have service units that work in conjunction with the Salvation Army’s Pittsburgh-based division headquarters to set up their own local kettle campaigns, she added.

“Any money (the campaigns) raise stays very local. That means a lot to people,” said Davies.

The funds are used to pay for Christmas gift baskets for families, and

also to help those in need with higher winter-time utility costs, according to Davies. This year, the Meadville Corps alone is expecting to help upwards of 350 local individuals and families.

“This is about the usual number of people we’ve seen in the last few years,” said Davies, “but we may not have seen the last of folks” who are in need of assistance.

At this point, there are also still about 150 local children who are in need of gifts to be distributed through the Salvation Army’s Treasures for Children campaign, according to Davies.

“We’re not panicking,” she said of the need, “but we’re distributing (toys) in just a very few weeks.”

Also, anyone who would like to is more than welcome to volunteer, either at the kettles or at the Salvation Army’s Park Avenue headquarters during the toy-packing and distributing effort later this month, said Davies.

“We can use as many volunteers as possible,” she said.

Ryan Smith can be reached at 724-6370 or by e-mail at rsmith@meadville-tribune.com.