By Greg Bennett
The Coast Guard
NovaNewsNow.com
Major Peter Rowe was right.
A few weeks ago, the Salvation Army’s Christmas Tree Tag program wasn’t going very well.
With only a few weeks before Christmas left, only three gifts had been handed in for the more than 40 children on its list in the Barrington area. Officials started to sound alarm bells.
In an appeal through local newspapers and radio the local Salvation Army head said he had no doubt that people in the area would respond in a big way.
They sure did.
A volunteer tasked with bringing the toys from the Barrington area for sorting and wrapping had difficulty fitting everything in his vehicle.
“Any more and he wouldn’t have been able to see to drive,” said Major Rowe.
The program began unusually slow this year in Barrington and Yarmouth and he believes people may have been pre-occupied this season.
In Yarmouth the organization has 350 children on its list.
While still sorting and organizing everything, Major Rowe says the last minute appeal appears to have worked perfectly. It took less than a week to turn everything around.
“We should be absolutely fine now,” he said.
He noted that the publicity saw many good things result, including the arrival of a cheque for $1,000 from a resident in Halifax.
“We’re really quite thrilled with the outcome,” he said.
