Mankato Salvation Army’s Red Kettle Drive off to a cold start

MANKATO, Minn. (KEYC) - Approaching a Red Kettle at your local retailer, you would normally hear the bell ringing and a “Merry Christmas!” But the cold start to the winter this year has led to fewer volunteers.

Captain Andy Wheeler of the Salvation Army said, “If somebody is not here until noon or until 2:00, then I might do a Facebook post or something and say, ‘hey guys this is going to be a community kettle, if you got five minutes just ring the bell for me.’”

Wheeler noted that an unmanned kettle puts a huge dent in collection results.

“With a kettle hanging and an empty stand, we make almost 400% less,” Wheeler said.

While the kettle was sitting inside Hobby Lobby, not a dollar was added. But as soon as captain Andy stood watch, donations started coming in.

Captain Andy says people might not fully understand what these funds go toward. He says its people in need like a child he met just a few weeks ago.

“This little guy came up to me, and he said I look like Santa,” Wheeler laughed. “I thought [that] was pretty fun. And I said, ‘What you do want for Christmas this year?’ And so, the kid said, ‘Santa I want a coat.’ Come on, what?”

This nine or 10-year-old didn’t ask for a new video game or computer like most. He just wanted the luxury of being warm in the winter.

Wheeler said he had the solution. “We have a program. A bundle-me-warm program that provides free winter wear to people in this community.”

It’s these funds that can help provide for kids and people in need, in more ways than just winter wear.

Wheeler asks himself, “What if that was my child? What if that was my kid that desperately needed a coat for Christmas, and I didn’t have the funds to pay for it? Well, that is what part of the Salvation Army is about.”

When you put a dollar in the bucket, you’re not helping the bell ringer out there in the cold. You’re helping someone you don’t even know through the help of the Salvation Army.

Click here to sign up to volunteer and have a chance to win a diamond necklace!

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