If the left hates the Salvation Army so much then it must be doing very much good.
Chick-fil-a deserves a lump of coal.
“One of my favorite encounters at the Kettle was meeting a middle-aged man who had served as a firefighter in Connecticut. He shared that even if he was fighting a fire on at 3 A.M. in the dead of winter, the Salvation Army would be there as well, serving hot coffee.”
Very uplifting article. Thanks for posting this.
Beautiful.
I need to remember to have some cash in my pocket for the next time I see a kettle.
I rarely carry cash anymore.
I believe it is bad luck to pass a SA kettle without giving. I just won’t do it.
” None of them was upset”
Grammar alert.
The kids throwing in change that mom or dad has provided are the best. The smiles and gap toothed grins give me the warm fuzzies.
I rang the bell for them for a couple of Christmases.
I was blown away by the number of people who would put money in the kettle and then thank me for being there. It really restored some lost faith in my fellow man. I would urge everybody to do it at least once.
I remember going by a bell ringer in downtown Seattle and I gave her my standard response (I don’t carry money): Do you take plastic?
To my horror, she said “yes”. So she pulls out this bulky card reader machine, but can’t get it to work. Being in IT and having been on card reader projects, I helped her get it to work and donated ten bucks. :)
That is the first time in my adult life I ever donated money to that organization.
I get kind of annoyed by charitable solicitations.
Mostly because our local TSC allows various organizations to set up a table in front of the store on weekends. I call it the “Guilt Gauntlet”.
I’m not opposed to charities per se, but walking up to the store with a couple of people out front, I have no way to verify who they say they are, and what they say they do. I’m sorry but if I’m going to give my hard-earned money to someone, I want to know what it is I’m funding, and, no, your word that you’re telling me the truth isn’t enough.
Visiting TSC multiple times on the average weekend, I guestimate that I get solicited for contributions at least 100x per year just at TSC.
I visit Walmart nearly as often, and when the Salvation Army shows up for the holidays, I have to kind of force myself to be receptive in the face of contribution fatigue. But the one thing that’s true about SA is you know who they are and what they do. Other than generally not having cash on me, I’m happy to contribute to them.
Part of me wishes SA would park themselves in front of TSC all year.
Thanks for sharing. I’ve shared it with friends, family and neighbors.
The headline gave me to believe that the author was a BUD/S dropout.
I was just at Walmart this morning & noticed sadly that the Salvation Army was not there. I hope this was just because of the early hour. My wife & I had served as bell ringers in the past. I always try to give them something.
I was just at Walmart this morning & noticed sadly that the Salvation Army was not there. I hope this was just because of the early hour. My wife & I had served as bell ringers in the past. I always try to give them something.
Many years ago my local Sam’s Club had the same S/A bell ringer year after year. I always dropped in a few bucks and wished him a Merry Christmas.
One year he and I got to talking. He actually lived 75 miles away in Austin. But came to San Antonio to volunteer for the Salvation Army. I asked him why? He said this is where they needed him and he was happy to meet friends like me again every year.
Then he told me the story of how Salvation Army saved his life. How they rescued him from a life of drug and alcohol dependency.
Donate to the Salvation Army. I know I do.