As the Salvation Army’s kettle drive nears its close, roughly $41,497 have been raised, or 69 percent of this year’s $60,000 goal.

“Overall, we’re doing pretty well,” said Kris Maier, Salvation Army volunteer and special events coordinator in Austin.

At Saturday’s challenge between the police and fire departments, police won by about $344. The two departments brought in a total of $1,457.

“That was phenomenal for four hours,” Maier said.

While the challenges have ended for the season, the kettle drive itself continues through Monday, Christmas Eve. Salvation Army workers are still organizing new events.

“We’re still working on a few kettle matches,” Maier said.

Lately, matches have yielded high turnouts. Overby Orthodontics reached its match limit of $250 Friday, where the Hy-Vee kettle donations topped $300. Worlein Funeral Home was set to match Hy-Vee kettles the next day, but ended up surpassing its limit of $1,000 and donating $1,200. Quality Pork Processor had a match of up to $200 at Jim’s Marketplace kettles Tuesday, though those numbers are still coming in.