The Salvation Army is registering bell ringers for this holiday season. I have done it for years and find it an enjoyable way to get into the holiday spirit, see your neighbors, and “Do the Most Good” for the Salvation Army’s outreach. Last year the kettles on the Monterey Peninsula brought in $146,236. The money was used for the many Peninsula programs serving the most needy. (See their website.)
Most Pagrovians choose to work at Grove Market, the Post Office or Safeway. Some organizations choose a day or two and schedule their own volunteers for 1-2 hour blocks. Others sign up as individuals once or twice a season for 2-hour blocks.
It is easy: On your computer go to Register to Ring (https://www.registertoring.com) and follow the prompts. If you have trouble, call me and I will do it for you: 831-649-8129.
The photo is my family in 2017. My granddaughter, Samantha, sang carols for 2 hours at the post office. She has a terrific voice and will join me again this year at Macy’s on Black Friday. Though entertainment is optional, it turns one dollar bills into fives.
A Kettle with a History of Help & Hope (from the Salvation Army publication):
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 lay awake nights, worrying, thinking and 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 enough 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, a nationwide effort 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. 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. Public contributions to Salvation Army kettles enable the organization to continue its year-round efforts at helping those who would otherwise be forgotten.
-Red Kettle History
By Onnette McElroy