Local Kettle Donation Rings Up Gold
By Nick Reiher
The Salvation Army of Joliet is closer to its 2024 giving goal this holiday season, thanks to a bright, shiny donation last weekend outside the Walmart store on Jefferson Street in Joliet.
“We opened that kettle, and when we saw that gold coin, there were a lot of whoops, bell ringing and ‘Praise the Lords,'” said Envoy Scott Hurula, Salvation Army Corps Administrator.
A 1 oz. gold coin, to be exact, worth around $2,500, Hurula said. “We haven’t seen a gold coin in Will County since 2020,” he said. “We have had some silver coins.
“It was the guy’s first year ringing the bell. He said, ‘That was is my kettle?'”
That helps bring the total collected since November 1 at $53,000 toward an overall goal of $150,000, Hurula said. Last year, Salvation Army bell ringers collected $136,000, an increase over 2022 when they took in $93,000, he said.
The holiday kettle collection are the main fundraiser for the Salvation Army, he said, along with mail campaigns. The money collected goes toward their programs to help people in many ways, including the food distributions that have cars lined along Richards Street by the Joliet headquarters on Third Avenue.
Other programs include emergency food and housing assistance, as well as its Pathways of Hope programs to help people find a way through hardships with employment, relationships with family and friends, and other issues.
Hurula said bell-ringing will go on 11 a.m. 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday until 3 p.m. on December 24. Typically, they have 20 to 25 ringers daily, on four, two-hour shifts, and they can use more.
Most are volunteers, he said, but they will pay minimum wage for people who need it. One new bell-ringer outside the Jewel on Jefferson Street has been especially impressive, movin’ and groovin’ while ringing the bell.
“I don’t know how she does that,” Hurula said laughing. “I wish I could give it to the others.”
Those interested in bell ringing can visit www.registertoring.com. People interested in Salvation Army of Joliet programs can go to https://centralusa.salvationarmy.org/joliet/.
Nick Reiher is editor of Farmers Weekly Review.