Christmas in July? Why the Salvation Army is launching an early red kettle campaign.

If you happened to drive by the Salvation Army building on Lake Street in Elmira on Thursday, you might have seen a familiar red kettle, about three months early.

The Salvation Army plans to put its red kettles out at various locations in early November as usual, but agency officials held a special bell ringing Thursday to encourage the community to consider donating now for "Christmas in July."

The reason?

The red kettle campaign is the primary source of funds that support the Salvation Army food pantry, and commanding officer Major Leo Lloyd said demand for food services has been so great, money raised last year is all gone, and then some.

"Last year we raised $80,000 on our Christmas effort. We've completely spent that money," Lloyd said. "Our fiscal year runs October through September, and we've got a $60,000 deficit now."

Salvation Army in Elmira, Corning experiencing shortfalls

The Salvation Army gets most of the food for its pantry from the Food Bank of the Southern Tier, which reported earlier this year it is seeing a major increase in demand across its six-county service area.

The Corning Salvation Army is also facing a financing shortfall due to a lack of volunteers and donations during last year's red kettle campaign.

The Corning unit announced Wednesday it will try to make up the difference by putting out red kettles now at supermarkets and other locations, and encourage residents to support the early effort.

While the Elmira Salvation Army will wait until November to deploy the kettles, officials are encouraging residents to help now, either through financial contributions, donations of nonperishable food items, or volunteer service at its food pantry.

Why are food pantries seeing spike in demand?

One of the likely reasons for the spike in demand for food is the lingering impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Lloyd said.

Many people, even those who were employed, couldn't keep up with rising food prices and had to turn to food pantries for help, and that phenomenon hasn't let up for the past three years, he said.

For the first six months of 2024, the Salvation Army food pantry has served more than 15,000 people, much more than was typical pre-pandemic, Lloyd said. The agency has also seen about 1,000 new families each of the last three years.

"Most people's income haven't kept up with costs. That's why we're seeing so many new folks," Lloyd said. "Folks who use the pantry come every week, some almost daily. They don't have the resources even with food stamps and SNAP."

The Elmira Salvation Army pantry, which Lloyd said is one of the largest food pantries in the region, is open Tuesday through Friday, and he said the pantry often runs out of food before the end of the week.

More: Experiencing food insecurity? Here's how, where you can get help in the Southern Tier

"This has been a tough budget year for us. We have to come to the public to help us," Lloyd said. "Otherwise, we'll have to cut services. We can't give what we don't have."

To learn more about the Salvation Army and how to help, go to easternusa.salvationarmy.org/empire/elmira .

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This article originally appeared on Elmira Star-Gazette: Christmas in July? Why the Salvation Army is launching an early red kettle campaign.