The Salvation Army’s holiday kettle collection in Knoxville has come to an end, and the local effort finally topped a long-sought milestone.

Merna Furney is with the First United Methodist Church in Knoxville, and was a key organizer for this year’s bell-ringing campaign. She tells KNIA/KRLS News after two years of coming close, they finally broke the $50,000 barrier…with the help of a lot of volunteers.

“We’ve had very good participation from churches and organizations; we had 19 different churches and 24 organizations that rang this year. And out of those there were 11 new groups that were ringing, so that really helped us,” Furney says. “And we took in, our total was $50,529.91.”

This total includes over $12,000 collected in Pella, and a $500 contribution from the Vermeer Charitable Foundation.