FROM STAFF REPORTS
Country music superstar, Thomas Rhett, helped kicked off the Salvation Army’s annual Red Kettle Campaign during a live performance at halftime of the Dallas Cowboys game against the Los Angeles Chargers on Thanksgiving Day.
It marked the 21st year the Dallas Cowboys have partnered with The Salvation Army to launch the iconic annual campaign. “The Dallas Cowboys’ partnership with The Salvation Army Red Kettle Campaign has helped to raise nearly $2.2 billion nationally since 1997,” says Major Joseph May of The Salvation Army in Kingsport.
Donations help provide meals and shelter for families and Christmas toys for millions of children across the country, in addition to numerous other social service programs year-round, such as substance abuse programs, shelter and counseling for victims of domestic violence, and military veteran assistance.
The Salvation Army hopes to raise $340,000 this Christmas season across the Tri-Cities area.
Local Salvation Army units are positioning red kettles throughout the Tri-Cities area. “We are so grateful to the businesses who allow us to collect outside of their stores,” says May. “In Kingsport we have permission to place kettles at Walmart, Kroger, Ingle’s, Hobby Lobby, Ben Franklin, Big Lots, Walgreen’s, Food City and Fort Henry Mall. In Johnson City and Bristol we will have locations at Priceless, Old Navy, Sam’s Club and Stein Mart.”
In Elizabethton, the Salvation Army Red Kettle will be at Walmart.
The Red Kettle Campaign runs from Thanksgiving Day through December 23 and is the largest and longest-running fundraiser of its kind, raising approximately $150 million per year. For the fourth year, this campaign will include an invitation for donors to share their reasons for giving on social media at #RedKettleReason.
In addition to giving online or to the traditional bell ringers that will be stationed at retail locations across the country, supporters can donate through the Army’s text-to-give program. By texting the word “KETTLE” to 80888, donors can send $10 to the Red Kettle Campaign.
From its humble beginnings as a Salvation Army captain’s start-up program in 1891 in San Francisco, the Red Kettle Campaign has grown into one of the most recognizable and important charitable campaigns in the United States. It provides toys for kids, coats for the homeless, food for the hungry and countless social service programs year-round. As part of the campaign, more than 25,000 Salvation Army volunteers throughout the country ring bells and solicit donations to the Red Kettles.