With Christmas just a week away, the Salvation Army continues to raise money for its Red Kettle campaign, but they're only getting half the donations they hoped to have this season. Our Erin Vannella takes a closer look at what's causing the trend this year.

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ALBANY, N.Y. – “At this point usually we are in the home stretch but not for us this year, we are really down,” said Salvation Army Major Giselle Acosta.

Five days to go and $60,000 short, Salvation Army needs more money and more hands.

“The money is there, people want to give but we need more volunteers to get the money,” said Rafael Garcia, Salvation Army volunteer.

Rafael Garcia has volunteered for years. But he's manning one of only five Albany County locations when there are usually 25 kettle stations this time of year

“People like for me to ring the bell because they see my enthusiasm and are motivated to donate,” said Garcia.

Their goal is $125,000 to help provide for the 350 families on the Salvation Army's Christmas list. But if they don't collect $6,000 every day in the next week, they'll lose more than a merry Christmas..

“Our angle is to keep the programs going throughout the year like our after school programs, our feeding programs, soup kitchens, music school and those donations really, really make a difference,” said Acosta.

So they ring with all they've got to get what they need. Albany depends on us, Garcia says, a smile and ‘God bless you’ just don't cut it.