Outside Westmoreland Mall, Darlene Felice of Greensburg basked in the warm sun Wednesday while ringing a bell next to one of The Salvation Army's ubiquitous red kettles.

She let a young boy who deposited some cash into the kettle take over on the bell for a few seconds.

“Contributions are important today,” Felice said.

Dollars and coins began filling up the kettles across Western Pennsylvania this week as the nonprofit organization officially kicked off its donation drive. The kettles, along with volunteers, have been collecting at smaller stores since early November. Bell ringers took their places outside of Giant Eagle stores Wednesday and will be outside Wal-Marts for Black Friday.

In addition, the guilt any passersby without cash may feel can be allayed by the Salvation Army's online donation site.

“I know we are in an age where a lot of people don't have cash on them,” said Donna Fencik, Salvation Army spokeswoman.

The 2016 goal for The Salvation Army's Western Pennsylvania Division is $2.8 million across 28 counties. The division includes worship and service centers in Allegheny and Westmoreland counties that assist community members year-round with a variety of needs, including meals, shelter, clothing and utility bills.

Last year, the division as a whole surpassed its $2.72 million goal, but 10 of 39 worship and centers fell short of their individual targets.

“All of these pennies and dimes and nickels and dollars ... all add up to a lot of money each year,” Fencik said. “There are so many programs and services that we provide and we couldn't do it without the public's support.”

The goal for all eight of Allegheny County's centers is $726,000. Last year, the centers fell about $14,000 short of the countywide goal of $651,000.

Westmoreland County made up the difference, beating its mark by more than $16,500 for a total of $366,000 last year. Greensburg and Jeannette exceeded their targets; Latrobe and New Kensington did not.

That meant employees could not be hired and sometimes people in need of help with utility payments had to be turned away, said Capt. Jennifer Blessing of the Latrobe center. She's optimistic that this donation season will be better and possibly lead to the expansion of a weekly soup kitchen, Lighthouse Lunch. Last year, Latrobe brought in 85 percent of its goal. This year, the center is tasked with raising $54,000.

“We are trying to make sure our stands are operating on a more frequent basis,” which means more help from volunteers, Blessing said. “We just need people to be there.”

Volunteers are needed by all of the worship and service centers, as are new sites for kettles, Fencik said. Frank Majhan of Ligonier was on his second day of bell ringing Wednesday morning outside Giant Eagle in Eastgate Plaza, where shoppers dropped cash into the kettles while picking up last-minute fixings for Thanksgiving meals.

“I've been in sales my whole career and I like talking to people,” Majhan said.

The combined 2016 goal for six centers in Westmoreland County — Greensburg, Jeannette, Latrobe, Monessen, New Kensington and Kiski Valley — is $377,000.

Goals are based on the budget and anticipated needs for the coming year.

Staff writer Megan Guza contributed. Renatta Signorini is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach her at 724-837-5374 or rsignorini@tribweb.com.

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