Salvation Army Red Kettle Campaign

The Salvation Army will be back this year with their annual Red Kettle Campaign. You can now start to register to become a paid or volunteer bell ringer.

Since 1891 the Salvation Army’s across the nation have been ringing the famous red bell and raising money for their communities. Captain Tamara Robb of The Salvation Army spoke with Twin States News about the excitement of the season.

“It’s so fun to ring”, said Captain Robb. “The little kids will come up and I’ll let them ring the bell and put the money in the kettle. They tug on their parents' coats to allow them to put money in the kettle. The parents will sometimes come up to us and ask us to share where the money goes and it goes directly back into our community. 82 cents of every dollar goes back into direct services.”

The Salvation Army is looking for people in the community to volunteer. You can join their orientation on do’s and don'ts of bell ringers this Saturday at 1702 24th Avenue.

“We would like to challenge the community to get a group like your Sunday School group. It’ll reward you to hear people come up and tell you stories of how they served in the world war and how The Salvation Army gave them free coffee and donuts. That was just a touch of home to help them know that they were loved and cared for.” – Captain Tamara Robb

It’s tradition to donate money into the kettle, but The Salvation Army has implemented a new way you can donate. Instead of dropping money into the bucket, you can now scan a reader attached the sign and donate straight from your phone.

“It’s just been a tradition for many years. The Riley Center has a Christmas event every year and they ask us to come and have a kettle and play our horns”, explained Captain Robbs. “We have stepped it up with the digital age by putting that online pay, it’s just part of the Christmas season hearing the bell ring, you see it in movies so it's just part of tradition that we do that.”

The kickoff for the Red Kettle campaign will be next Friday November 5th at Uptown Meridian starting at 11 AM. For more information on how to become a volunteer, you can call (601)-483-6156