Every year during the holidays, we enjoy sharing gifts and donations with those in need. We believe that it’s important to teach our children about being generous and compassionate, especially with the people in our community who are in need.
Sometimes we’ll adopt a family from our church, sometimes we’ll donate warm clothes and meals through the mitten tree at the kids’ school. We’ve donated a lot of different things over the years and had a lot of different experiences while doing so.
Because the holiday season is such a wonderful time for the spirit of giving, it seems like there are many new organizations, toy drives and donation collection groups each year. I believe that most of them are created with every intention of doing good in our community, but since they’re often new to me, I’m not sure if my donations will go where I think they will go.
That’s why when we donate every year, we go through our school or church, and we donate through the Salvation Army.
The Salvation Army is one of the world’s oldest and largest providers of social services, so I can feel confident in our donations.
Originally established in 1865 in London, the Army has been helping people for almost 150 years, including helping people in the U.S. for more than 130 years. The Salvation Army’s 59,000 employees and 3.4 million volunteers serve around 30 million Americans easy year.
That means the Salvation Army helps almost one person, every second, every day.
One of the easiest ways to donate to the Salvation Army is with their Red Kettles.
.
.
You’ve probably walked by one in the past few days if you’ve been out shopping. Hopefully, you took just a second to drop in a dollar or two. Because the money donated to The Salvation Army in the Red Kettles goes towards very, very important causes.
Like providing shelter at night for the homeless, help in times of disaster, rehabilitation services, and food for the hungry.
And over the holidays, more than 4 million families and children are helped. That’s a lot of wonderful holiday spirit and generosity at work!
Here is a volunteer at one of my local stores ringing her bell and helping raise money with the Red Kettle. She was singing Christmas carols and was so friendly! It always feels good to give and share with others, but it was especially nice to donate to “her” red kettle this year.
.
Since there are nearly 7,600 centers of operation in almost every zip code in the U.S., there’s probably a Red Kettle near you. The donations all stay in the same community where they are donated, so please be sure to give when you come across one!
To donate or learn more, visit the Salvation Army website or call 1-800-SAL-ARMY. Get the latest updates and news from the Salvation Army on Facebook, on Twitter, and on the Salvation Army blog.
And be sure to share your Red Kettle Reasons for giving!
.
