#Volunteer Spotlight : Salvation Army - @SalvationArmyUS
When the snow starts to fall and people frantically shop for gifts, we are hit with nostalgic images of Christmastime. No not Santa and his elves or reindeer. I’m not talking about trees and carolers. The red can and bell ringing of the Salvation Army.
I’ve always loved walking by these volunteers, who are persistently happy, singing songs, ringing bells and providing a moment of happiness in the insanity of the holiday hustle.
My first experience working with Salvation Army came in college, when one of my good friends asked if I would want to join his family in serving Thanksgiving meals.
Of course, I had to say yes and see what this was all about.
There was nothing too exciting and glamorous about this service - it was serving homeless people in Chicago a meal. But like the kettle ringers, we did it while singing, laughing and joking.
I was hooked.
I went back again with his family for Christmas dinner...and then I was really hooked. I’ve went every holiday during college and continued after.
Something about serving other before visiting family made the holidays...brighter.
Looking more into the Salvation Army, I discovered what an incredible global organization they had. The kettle ringers alone raise over $100,000,000 a year.
You want some data? I’ve serve it up, but if you get a chance to carve out a few hours on Thanksgiving (pun intended) or any other day, hop on over to SA and see their good work in action.
Annual Global Stats
- Community development programs: 10,211 serving 2,016,867 people
- Homeless hostels: 440 with a of capacity of 24,860 people
- Residential addiction dependency programs: 252 with a capacity of 14,267 people
- Children's homes: 182 with a capacity of 7,001 children
- Homes for elderly persons: 200 with a capacity of 11,605 people
- Community day care centers: 619
- Non-residential addiction rehabilitation centers: 70
- Disaster rehabilitation schemes: 104, serving 129,323 people
- Refugee programs: 58, serving 32,143 people
- Prisoners visited: 266,089
All of this from a bell, a smile and a red kettle. Next time you can, put an extra dollar in the kettle and know you are helping to do a world of difference.