The Salvation Army in South Korea said it has raised 1.4 billion won ($1.08 million) through its joint campaign with the local finance industry, the highest annual figure ever since the campaign was launched in 2011.

“The donations will be used to rebuild old public welfare facilities and provide necessities and emergency cash to households in dire need,” the charity said Thursday. The group and 23 financial services companies – banks, brokerage firms, insurance and credit card companies – held a ceremony the same day to mark the occasion.

“Our campaign with financial leaders has been in place for 13 years, spreading warmth around the country,” Commissioner Chang Man-hee said. “We express our deepest gratitude to those firms for making bigger efforts every year.”

At the ceremony Thursday, Lee Se-hoon, first senior deputy governor of the government financial watchdog, the Financial Supervisory Service, said his agency would back efforts to “spread a culture of giving back to the community.”