A holiday tradition is officially underway.
On Thursday, the Salvation Army kicked off its annual Christmas Kettle campaign at the Windsor Spitfires game.
Local Salvation Army spokesperson Shannon Wise says this year's goal is $315,000.
"We want to give people a hand up and when they're able to come back and volunteer, we just love those success stories," says Wise.
She says launching at the WFCU Centre made sense.
"We couldn't have asked for a bigger and better stage to do it in partnership with the Windsor Spitfires."
Wise says people in the area need assistance.
"We need to take care of each other and with that hidden poverty, I mean one in eight households are low income so that's why the Salvation Army is here to provide those social services that are so needed for this community."
Last year's goal was $270,000 — but $304,000 was raised
The campaign wraps up on Christmas Eve.
— with files from Steve Bell