Salvation Army Red Kettles:December Season of Sharing

The "miracle" of Christmas is repeated over and over again through the joy of caring and sharing. You can't go by a store or a mall without seeing the Salvation Army traditional "red kettle" during the Christmas season. Millions of dollars donated each year aid needy families, seniors, and the homeless, in keeping with the spirit of the season.

Your donations provide Christmas dinners, clothing, and toys for families in need.

The Salvation Army mission is to bring spiritual light and love to those it serves at Christmas so that the real meaning of the season is not forgotten.

Here is a little history of the Red Kettle:

In 1891, Salvation Army Captain 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.

Where would the money come from, he wondered. Captain McFee stayed 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.

The next day Captain 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. Today in the U.S., The Salvation Army assists more than four-and-a-half million people during the Thanksgiving and Christmas time periods.

Captain McFee's kettle idea launched a tradition that has spread not only throughout the United States, but all across the world. Kettles are now used in such distant lands as Korea, Japan, Chile and many European countries. Everywhere, public contributions to Salvation Army kettles enable the organization to continue its year-round efforts at helping those who would otherwise be forgotten. So when you see those red kettles and hear the bell ringers, please remember to share this holiday season. Your contribution will be used to bless someone in Southwest Louisiana.

This Saturday, December 10th at 1:00pm you will get to see my very own "red kettle Santa" ringing the bell in front of JC Penny at the Prien Lake Mall. He will be wearing his LSU Santa hat ringing the bell as a community volunteer from Kiwanis!