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(STEVE ARSTAD / iNFOnews.ca)

It would appear the B.C. Liquor Distribution Branch has had a change of heart when it comes to allowing Salvation Army Christmas kettles outside liquor stores.

The branch, which oversees B.C. Liquor Stores, decided to reverse its decision after first stating it would no longer allow the kettles outside of liquor stores because of potential conflicts with two other fundraising campaigns.

In a statement issued today, Dec. 5, the branch said the reversal is "due to the potential for short-notice hardship on The Salvation Army’s holiday-timed fundraising efforts."

For roughly 30 years, Salvation Army volunteers have fundraised each holiday season with the annual kettle campaign outside of B.C. Liquor Stores.

"Our original decision to limit fundraising efforts was made because we already had two other donation campaigns underway in our stores – Food Banks B.C. and Share-a-Bear – and did not want to overwhelm customers," the branch said. "BCL is running an in-store fundraising campaign in support of Food Banks BC throughout the holiday period. One of our concerns was that the Food Bank campaign would suffer if people had already made a donation to the Kettle Campaign outside of our stores.

"It is also worth noting that 15% of Food Banks BC members are represented by The Salvation Army. This means that, in a number of communities, donations to Food Banks BC directly support The Salvation Army."

Major Mark Wagner, with the Kelowna Salvation Army, said in a previous interview with iNFOnews.ca, the decision to halt the kettle campaign came as a surprise.

He wasn’t upset by the decision allowing other non-profits in town, like the Kelowna Community Food Bank, to benefit, “but it does impact our campaign a bit because those locations were good locations for us and our totals for the kettles are down this year,” he said.

He noted kettle donations were down as of last week by about $24,000 compared to previous year.

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