Salvation Army wants you to ring bells for its annual red kettle campaign

The Salvation Army of Eastern Pennsylvania is searching for more volunteers for its annual red kettle campaign. The iconic tradition raises money to help the needy during the winter holiday season.

Lt. Col. Larry Ashcraft said the charitable organization typically staffs 100 locations around Philadelphia in December This year, the group has only had enough manpower for 75 locations on any given day, he said.

“We need volunteers that would say ‘I’ll give you two hours, give you four hours, eight hours on a kettle with my family or business. And they would just help us out immensely by staffing those because you can’t raise money if nobody’s there,” said Ashcraft during a kickoff celebration in LOVE Park on Friday.

The kettle campaign brought in about $300,000 in 2020. The organization raised another $450,000 through direct mail and other marketing efforts. The Salvation Army uses that money to provide food and housing to those in need, particularly during the Christmas season.

Ashcraft hopes to hit or surpass that fundraising mark this year.

“Last year was a banner year for us, believe it or not. With COVID and everything else, people realized the good work we did and they wanted to support us,” said Ashcraft.

The red kettle campaign runs through Dec. 24.