Rescue Christmas Updates: Pilots for Christ and Kentwood Rotary enter the race for the Golden Kettle

After three weeks of bell ringing, The Salvation Army’s Christmas Campaign is half done. During this time of uncertainty and health concerns, the theme of the annual campaign is to “Rescue Christmas”. With less than three weeks remaining until the Dec.24 final date, the Golden Kettle Competition in Grand Rapids between service clubs has brought about some changes with contestants and results.

A new group has entered the fray as Pilots for Christ and four other service clubs seek to win the Golden Kettle Award. Pilots for Christ is a social services organization in Kent County that is made up of “pilots and aviation enthusiasts, dedicated to the promotion of the Gospel through mercy flights, compassion flights, provided by Christian Pilots, via aviation and necessary ground transportation.” After spending a total of 12 hours over a 6-day period at the Alpine Avenue Sam’s Club location, the group has risen to first place after raising $1,078 for The Salvation Army.

With other results from this past week, last year’s champs - the Golden “K” Kiwanis Club is in second place with $835 raised after two days (10 hours) of bell ringing. Third place is held by The Kentwood Rotary Club with a total of $621 after 6 hours of ringing bells throughout Saturday afternoon at the Forest Hills Foods location. Comstock Rotary and Grand Rapids Kiwanis Clubs will soon participate as they to claim the final prize as well.

All service clubs and groups are welcome to participate. There is still time to get involved and to make an impact as The Salvation Army seeks help from everyone. Simply register your group at www.registertoring.com or contact Auxiliary Capt. Mika Roinila at 616-454-1459 for more details on how you can raise support for The Salvation Army.