Salvation Army bell ringers and their kettles will not be seen in front of BC Liquor Stores this holiday season, as the crown corporation says its already committed to other causes.

This will make a big difference to the bottom line over the course of the kettle season, said Stuart Richardson, who is managing the campaign for the Salvation Army Ridge Meadows Ministry.

鈥淚t鈥檚 certainly a blow,鈥� he said, explaining a liquor store is a prime location for donation collection.

Richardson spent about seven years as a bell ringer outside of the liquor store at the Meadowtown Shopping Centre in Pitt Meadows, and said it was a great place to get donations for the Sally Ann.

鈥淧eople going into a liquor store in December are generally in a good mood, and generous,鈥� he said. 鈥淭here was the odd $50 bill, and lots of $20s.鈥�

He said private liquor stores have 鈥減icked up the slack,鈥� and there will be kettles at some Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows shops.

鈥淚t would have been nice to have a conversation about it,鈥� Richardson said of the change, which was made after the Salvation Army had started its 2022 kettle campaign.

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The BC Liquor Distribution Branch issued a statement saying it鈥檚 running an in-store fundraising campaign for Food Banks BC throughout the holiday period, until Dec. 31. BCL鈥檚 Share-a-Bear program, which runs every holiday season, is also happening. As part of this program, customers are asked if they would like to purchase a bear to take home while its twin is donated to charity in their community.

To date, the LDB has raised more than $2.75 million in support of food banks throughout the province since beginning its partnership with Food Banks BC in April 2020, according to LDB communications.

鈥淲e were already fully committed to these important campaigns by the time the Salvation Army applied to use our stores for collections,鈥� the BC Liquor Distribution Branch said.

鈥淭o ensure we don鈥檛 overwhelm our customers with donation campaigns when they visit our stores, we are not approving any other fundraising activities at our stores throughout the holiday period, while our Food Banks BC or Share-a-Bear campaigns are running.鈥�

鈥淯nfortunately, this means that we will be unable to facilitate the Salvation Army鈥檚 Christmas Kettle Campaign this year.鈥�

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