Salvation Army needs help to reach Christmas red kettle goal
Big Spring residents have always dug deep to help the local Salvation Army continue its good work in our community, but the organization's head, Major Dean Moretz, told the Big Spring Herald Monday that this year's Red Kettle campaign is running short this year.
Moretz said this year's goal is $60,000, and thus far the kettles and bell-ringers have collected about $47,000.
“Our kettles keep going until the 24th of December. That's we're we're at right now. We'll have volunteers manning our kettles periodically for the next four days. They'll be at Wal-Mart and at Porter's at different times. We only have two fulltime bell ringers.”
Moretz said the money raised in the Red Kettle campaign each year is used to fund Salvation Army operations for the entire year.
“We have a food pantry at the Corps, feeding folks in the community. We help, depending on whether we have funding or not, with utilities and things like that,
The commanders of Big Spring’s Salvation Army post, Majors Dean and Pam Moretz, pose in the headquarters’ food pantry. providing services for people,” Moretz said. “I have to be careful how I word that because, you know, we don't have funds to help everybody. When we run out, we run out. We try to budget it throughout the year.”
The local Salvation Army has several children's programs as well.
“We have the Boys and Girls Club in our command, and in the summer we have summer camp and also we have summer day camp through the Boys and Girls Club,” Moretz said.
Salvation Army was started by William Booth in London in 1865, according to the organization's website, “...as a means to help the suffering souls throughout London who were not willing to attend – or even welcomed into – a traditional church.” In 1891, Salvation Army Captain Joseph McFee noticed many poor people in San Francisco were going hungry. During the holiday season, he decided to provide a free Christmas dinner for the destitute and poverty-stricken.