Red Kettle Updates - and the Golden Kettle Competition

With two weeks of bell ringing behind us, The Salvation Army is happy to share some news and insights on how the Red Kettle Campaign is going.

Several Red Kettle locations across the city have seen many volunteers manning the kettles. According to Auxiliary Captain Mika Roinila, volunteers are signing up in good numbers. “We have more volunteers at this point than we had last year or the year before. We’ve had days with eight individual volunteers ringing at eight different sites for two hours each. Black Friday and last Saturday were busy as well. We had several service clubs ringing all through the day. We are very encouraged by the community engagement that we’re seeing this year.”

Special thanks go to the Grand Rapids Harmonica Club who volunteered at Woodland Mall this past week. They are not new to the kettle campaign, as they have played at the mall in the past as well. Members of the group played, rang bells, and engaged listeners – some of whom even danced as the troupe played their tunes.

We also share on the progress of the “Golden Kettle” competition between service clubs that will be highly contested between clubs. The leader to date is  the Golden “K” Kiwanis Club who raised $897 on Black Friday while ringing for 10 hours at Woodland Mall. They are closely followed by the Kentwood Rotary Club with $805 after 14 hours of ringing over two weekends. Other clubs that have already signed up to compete include the Comstock Park Rotary Club, Grand Rapids Kiwanis Club, and the South Kent Rotary Club.

The Salvation Army thanks all the volunteers who have already come out to support the annual campaign, and encourages others to keep signing up. It is exciting to see the community supporting the ministry and outreach The Salvation Army provides in the Kent County area. If you are interested in volunteering, visit https://www.registertoring.com to find a location, date, and time the fits you best!