MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Christmas is the time of bell-ringing, but those bells will last a little longer this year.

You will hear the Salvation Army's bells ringing after Christmas this year. 

The annual Red Kettle Campaign was supposed to end after Christmas Eve, but they are short of their $3.7 million goal -- so the plan is for the kettles to stay out at least until New Year's Eve. 

"The community has always been very generous to the Salvation Army," said Major Steven Merritt of the Salvation Army. "We're a million dollars short on our goals. So we are continuing to count, continue to give even though we're past Christmas, continue to remember the Salvation Army."

The bells will stop ringing at 2 p.m. Dec. 24, but the volunteers will be back out again after Christmas day. 

The money collected goes toward the Salvation Army's programs to provide food, clothing and shelter to families in need.