Kettle Stories-

Salvation Army Seasonal Fundraising Tradition Started in Bay Area

The Salvation Army has set up Red Kettles at a number of area businesses, including this one at the Raley’s store in Merced. Photo: Steve Newvine

This time of year, several Merced County retailers open their places of business to the red kettle.

Salvation Army has a core of paid workers, augmented by scores of volunteers, ringing the bell, and raising money for the organization.

It’s interesting to note the tradition of the red kettle and the bell ringing started in the Bay Area some one-hundred, thirty years ago.

The local Salvation Army Captain was saddened to see so many poor families having a hard time during the holiday season. This Captain wanted to give every struggling family a Christmas dinner.

His problem: finding money to pay for everything. After many sleepless nights, this Captain remembered the so-called Simpson’s Pot near a naval docking site. The Pot was for the collection of loose coins anyone passing by might have for the poor.

The Captain copied that idea and placed a pot at the Oakland Ferry Landing on Market Street in San Francisco.

The rest is history.

This year, the Merced County Red Kettle Campaign will provide toys to over six hundred children, and a hearty Christmas dinner for two-hundred, fifty families.

Major Turnie Wright of the Merced chapter of the Salvation Army says the campaign is a highly visible focal point for the organization.

The Major is hoping for a good campaign because 2021 was challenged by the end of COVID restrictions.

“We have seen last year as a hiccup as the pandemic was winding down. But there was and still is today a need to help those in need.” That need is apparent in the local chapter's planning for Red Kettle monies this year.

The Major says two-hundred, fifty families will benefit from the campaign. Over six hundred children will receive toys for Christmas thanks to the generosity of people who drop spare change and bills into the bucket.

In addition, Salvation Army has Angel Trees in a handful of businesses where a shopper can pick an angel from a Christmas tree, and then shop for a particular toy written on that angel.

But the benefits from the annual campaign go well beyond the recipients of the holiday food and toys. There are some touching stories heard by the people who ring the bell at kettle locations throughout Merced County.

One woman with a British accent called the organization the “Sally Army” explaining that the moniker was used back in Great Britain where she lived as a child. “They (Salvation Army) had a great band that I remember hearing every Christmas. It was a wonderful tradition.”

A man shared the story about how he was helped by the Salvation Army many years ago when he had fallen on hard times. “I promised myself then that once I got back on my feet, I would never forget what they did for me.”

My connection with Salvation Army goes way back to the late 1990s when the Avon Rotary Club in upstate New York would ring the bell at an area store. Photo: Newvine Personal Collection

Major Wright has some of his own stories about people touched by the Red Kettle Campaign.

He worked the location at the Atwater Save Mart where he would sing instead of ring a bell. A woman walked by and told him she’d be right back.

She came back later with a small stocking that she had knitted in her car.

“She enjoyed the singing instead of the bell and wanted to give, but at that stage, she did not have any other cash on her. So she knitted the small stocking.”

The Major related a story about meeting a young child who had a Mcdonald's Happy Meal. The child took the toy out of her Happy Meal box and asked that it be given to a young child that did not have anything.

Stories of generosity among givers have touched Major Wright and his team over the years.

“These small gifts stand out the most in my mind as it was the attitude of the giver giving the gift that just made my day.”

The Red Kettle started in California well over a century ago, and the need still exists for the many families struggling this year.

They each have their own story, and even the folks who help out the Salvation can tell their own stories about how a smile and the cling of a tiny bell have made an impact on their lives.

Steve Newvine lives in Merced.

Two of his California books are now available for purchase at the Merced Courthouse Museum gift shop. All his titles are available at Lulu.com.