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The red kettle campaign is the principal source of funding for the
agency, and volunteers are needed to man the kettles and ring those
bells. Van Nydeggen says individuals or groups and organizations
are needed to volunteer to help the agency.
There are many options available, from individuals ringing the
bell for two- to four-hour shifts, to an organization taking over an
entire day or days. There is also a family shift, where
grandparents, parents and children take a four- to five-hour shift
together as a team.
For more information on how to volunteer, call 217-732-7890.
Red kettle history
In 1891, Salvation Army Capt. Joseph McFee was distraught because
so many poor individuals in San Francisco were going hungry. During
the holiday season, he resolved to provide a free Christmas dinner
for the destitute and poverty-stricken. He only had one major hurdle
to overcome -- funding the project.
He wondered where the money would come from. He lay awake nights,
worrying, thinking, praying about how he could find the funds to
fulfill his commitment of feeding 1,000 of the city's poorest
individuals on Christmas Day. As he pondered the issue, his thoughts
drifted back to his sailor days in Liverpool, England. He remembered
how at Stage Landing, where the boats came in, there was a large,
iron kettle called "Simpson's Pot" into which passers-by tossed a
coin or two to help the poor.
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The next day McFee placed a similar pot at the Oakland Ferry Landing
at the foot of Market Street. Beside the pot, he placed a sign that
read, "Keep the Pot Boiling." He soon had the money to see that the
needy people were properly fed at Christmas.
Six years later, the kettle idea spread from the West Coast to
the Boston area. That year, the combined effort nationwide resulted
in 150,000 Christmas dinners for the needy. In 1901, kettle
contributions in New York City provided funds for the first mammoth
sit-down dinner in Madison Square Garden, a custom that continued
for many years. The Salvation Army today assists more than 4.5
million people in the U.S. during the Thanksgiving and Christmas
time periods.
McFee's kettle idea launched a tradition that has spread not only
throughout the United States, but all across the world. Everywhere,
public contributions to Salvation Army kettles enable the
organization to continue its year-round efforts to help those who
would otherwise be forgotten.
[Text from file received from
Salvation Army] |
