The “Red Kettle” campaign ends for the Salvation Army

The money raised during the campaign helps local people all year round

TUPELO, MISS. (WCBI) – Every Christmas season, the Red Kettles and Bells are in grocery stores and shopping malls to raise money for the Salvation Army.

Captain Rob Dolby spent part of his Christmas Eve morning outside of West Main Kroger, on the last day of the Red Kettle campaign.

The money raised in the red cauldrons makes up twenty-five percent of the Salvation Army’s annual budget, and these funds help the local people. In fact, ninety cents of every dollar raised stays in the area.

“The best thing about Christmas is taking a break right at the beginning of the Christmas story to change everything. This is what the Red kettles mean for us. For people with homelessness, hungry, families who have chosen between Christmas gifts and medicine for their children, the Salvation Army at Christmas is the hands and feet of hope and an interruption to poverty, an interruption to hopelessness, “said Dolby.

Here at Jim Ingram Red Shield Lodge, six children will wake up on Christmas morning with a roof over their heads and gifts, all because of partners and donors across the community willing to donate to the Salvation Army. As Captain Dolby says, it’s about giving people hope and raising a hand rather than a helping hand.

“We’re going to reach nearly a thousand families because we don’t want to touch them with a gift just once a year, but we want to help them go green all year round,” said Dolby.

Captain Dolby also points out that the Salvation Army is now allowing church and civil society groups at their community center on Carnation Street to help with food distribution and service to those in need.

In addition, the Salvation Army will hold its “Empty Bowls” fundraising campaign at the Tupelo furniture market in early March. Various restaurants in the area offer soup for guests. This money is used to support the Salvation Army’s feeding program throughout the year.