SALVATION ARMY DRIVE NEEDS A HOLIDAY BOOST

The Salvation Army's 1997 Tree of Lights campaign is running short on donations.

"At this point, we're somewhere between $7,000 and $8,000 short of where we were this time last year," said Capt. Robert Gauthier.

The shortfall seems to be in the mail-in donations and the mail appeal, Gauthier said. Kettle donations are on track for this time of the campaign.

This year's campaign goal is $175,000, which is $15,000 higher than the 1996 goal, he said.

Funds raised during the Tree of Lights campaign are used year-round, Gauthier said, and help provide hot meals, shelter, food pantry service, utility and rent assistance and other services for needy families.

"It's not only used at Christmas time," Gauthier said. "It's used for a whole gamut of things."

Donations may be mailed to the Salvation Army at P.O. Box 802, Cape Girardeau, Mo., 63702. Donations may also be dropped off at the Salvation Army center, 701 Good Hope in Cape Girardeau.