MERIDEN - On the night before Thanksgiving, as Meriden's families prepared to feast on turkey and stuffing, a Salvation Army volunteer was ringing his bell in Hubbard Park, collecting money so that other families in the community wouldn't go hungry this holiday season.

In a departure from previous policy, the host of local nonprofits that divvied up the evenings during the Hubbard Park Festival of Lights to collect donations over the past two years have been replaced by a single agency: the Meriden Salvation Army.

The Salvation Army is a nondenominational Christian organization known for its evangelical, social and charitable work.

With so many out of work and in need, Parks and Recreation Director Mark Zebora said his department, with the support of the mayor, decided to let the Salvation Army take over the job of collecting this year.

An estimated 90,000 cars come to see the light display in Hubbard Park each year, with its giant animals, landmarks and snowflakes lit up by 300,000 bulbs. When Mayor Michael S. Rohde was chairman of the Parks and Recreation Committee in 2007, he had the idea that local nonprofits might benefit from the traffic, he said.

Organizing the logistics of it was troubling, though, and when Zebora called him to ask about letting the Salvation Army be the sole solicitor of donations, he thought it was a good idea.

"They're such a well known, national entity" with a history of doing a lot of good in the community, Rohde said.

"It just sort of continued the theme of using the opportunity of all those cars coming through to benefit a good cause," he said.

In the future, decisions over who collects at the lights display will likely be in the hands of the City Council, Rohde said.

Captain James Stephenson, corps officer for the Meriden Salvation Army, told the Record-Journal Tuesday that need was up an estimated 20 to 25 percent over last year, and that the opportunity to collect more donations was a welcome one.

Proceeds go to purchase Christmas presents for children, stock soup kitchens and food pantries, pay the utilities and rent of families that have fallen on hard times, and other charitable projects, he said.

"I was very grateful," Stephenson said of the city's offer.

The Meriden Rotary Club was one of the organizations giving out hot cocoa, offering children a chance to meet Santa Claus and collecting donations last year.

Rotary President Cliff Carlson said he didn't mind ceding the fundraising opportunity to the Salvation Army.

"I thought it was an interesting idea to allow them to do it," he said. "We support the Salvation Army anyway. They certainly have a tremendous need."

JoAnne Grabinski, a member of the Quinnipiac River Watershed Association, which also collected last year, said any lost chance to raise funds hurts the association, but she did not object to the Salvation Army taking over.

This year the QRWA will instead be selling luminaries at Christmas in the Village, a Dec. 5 celebration on Main Street in South Meriden.

Asked about the possibility of the city creating a legal problem by choosing a single, Christian-affiliated nonprofit and excluding all others, Corporation Counsel Michael Quinn said he was not familiar enough with the matter and could not comment.

New Life Church pastor the Rev. Will Marotti was unconcerned about a possible conflict.

"I don't have a problem with the Salvation Army doing it this year," he said. "I would have a problem with the Salvation Army doing it every year. … I just hope the city is going to be fair and rotate."

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