The Salvation Army’s Red Shield Appeal calls for volunteers.

After more than 55 years of knocking on doors each May, The Salvation Army is taking the Red Shield Appeal digital in response to COVID-19’s impact on social contact.

Australians are facing an economic and social crisis unlike anything witnessed in recent decades and The Salvation Army is preparing to provide hardship support on an unprecedented scale. In doing that they are asking locals to become digital fundraisers by going to digitaldoorknock.salvationarmy.org.au and using a suburb or postcode to find their nearest Red Shield Appeal to help those doing it tough.

The Salvos hope to enlist 10,000 virtual collectors to sign up and fundraise for the Red Shield Appeal Digital Doorknock on May 23 and 24 to help meet the challenging times ahead.

Salvation Army Bathurst/Orange Corps Captain, Kate Cathcart said, “We are encouraging people to sign up as individuals or as a team, and they can either just make a donation or they can run their own fundraiser. We want the community to get creative, for example; get sponsored for the most amount of hours watching Netflix, or maybe they want to do a marathon, we can’t wait to see what people come up with.”

80% of the money raised from the Red Shield Appeal Digital Doorknock in Orange will stay in the Orange region to help fund local initiatives that support those who are experiencing homelessness, addiction, financial hardship, domestic violence and difficulties arising from COVID-19. The remaining 20% supports the addiction recovery centres, crisis and short-term accommodation and refuges across Australia. These centres have supported and will continue to support people from our own community.

With the Salvos are going digital this year and it’s easier than ever to volunteer your time and help raise money for those in need.

Kate continued, “We know when the chips are down, Aussies come together and do what they can to give hope, this is no more important than now. We will also be updating our website regularly with local information and videos. The website is now live so jump on and check it out.”

Sign up and volunteer to fundraise or to make a donation: digitaldoorknock.salvationarmy.org.au/orange-salvos

The Salvation Army’s most recent annual report noted its social services provided more than one million sessions of care to Australians in need; helped 46,000 people experiencing homelessness, provided financial counselling to more than 65,000 and offered care to 13,000 people who were coping with family violence.

The past year also saw an ongoing response to drought, while Salvation Army Emergency Services responded to the rolling bushfires crisis by providing more than 500,000 meals and refreshments to first responders and displaced people.