‘Tis The Season Of Charitable Giving
Salvation Army Red Kettle Christmas Campaign Dates Back To The 1800s
Hear that? It’s the sound of thousands of Salvation Army volunteers in the United States and abroad, ringing bells for donations. Next month, you see plenty of them in front of neighborhood grocers, drug stores and malls.
It wouldn’t be the holidays without one of the nation’s most recognized fundraisers, the Red Kettle Christmas Campaign. The campaign has been around since 1891, when a San Francisco-based captain kicked off the charitable event. Generations have grown up alongside this tradition, and they probably have the pictures to prove it. Scan old photographs onto CD to share your experiences and encourage others to donate their time and money.
Today, 25,000-plus volunteers in the U.S. ring the famous Salvation Army bells every day between Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve. Last year, those efforts raised over $130 million. Many people give in person, placing the money in the iconic red kettles, but a number also contribute online.
The Red Kettle Christmas Campaign has global reach. While the concept is the same – volunteers, such as the gentlemen in this photo, stand before a container, collecting monetary gifts – exactly how they do it may vary. Some play musical instruments or sing carols to attract your attention, while others simply exchange pleasantries. Some red kettles are not red kettles at all, but clear containers (a popular choice in Canada). Numerous online images, some of them scanned photographs onto CD, reflect how volunteers from the Bahamas to Birmingham work.
The captain who initiated this tradition, Joseph McFee, received enough money the first year to feed Christmas dinner to the poor in San Francisco. Today, the Salvation Army does more than feed people with the money; it also provides clothes and many social services.
This year, the music group Daughtry is kicking off the 2009 campaign with a Thanksgiving Day halftime show performance in Texas, where the Dallas Cowboys will play the Oakland Raiders. For the last dozen years, the Dallas Cowboys have helped launch the annual Red Kettle Christmas Campaign; this year will be its 13th.