Toni Wiley mans a Salvation Army Kettle Campaign station at Bonita Lakes Mall. The campaign is underway and has a set goal of $105,000.

    More often than not, those who place their coins and dollars in the bright red kettles stationed throughout the city during the holidays have a story about how they were helped by The Salvation Army.

    Major Glenn Riggs, the Salvation Army of Meridian’s Corps officer, shares one such story from his days volunteering as a bell ringer.

    “I was standing in front of a grocery store when a man came up on a bike,” Riggs said. “He didn’t look like he had a lot, but he put $10 in the kettle.”

    The following year, Riggs was a kettle ringer at the same grocery and the same man came up to his station and put $10 in the kettle. Before the man walked away, Riggs asked him while he donated to the kettle campaign each year.

    “He said, ‘When I was a kid, the Salvation Army gave me Christmas,'” Riggs said.

    This year, the local Salvation Army office hopes to give Christmas to more than 1,000 children in Neshoba, Newton, Kemper and Lauderdale County. The local campaign is currently under way at Winn-Dixie, Vowell’s Marketplace and Bonita Lakes Mall, and Meridian’s Wal-Mart and Sam’s locations.

    A goal of $105,000 has been set for this year’s kettle campaign.

    “That’s pretty aggressive; we did $101,000 last year,” Riggs said. “There’s one extra day (of campaigning) from what we had last year, so I thought maybe we could bump it up that little bit.”

Kettle Campaign History

    According to the Salvation Army website, in 1891, Salvation Army Captain Joseph McFee was distraught because so many poor individuals in San Francisco were going hungry. During the holiday season, he resolved to provide a free Christmas dinner for the destitute and poverty-stricken. He only had one major hurdle to overcome – funding the project.

    Where would the money come from, he wondered. He lay awake nights, worrying, thinking, praying about how he could find the funds to fulfill his commitment of feeding 1,000 of the city’s poorest individuals on Christmas Day. As he pondered the issue, his thoughts drifted back to his sailor days in Liverpool, England. He remembered how at Stage Landing, where the boats came in, there was a large, iron kettle called “Simpson’s Pot” into which passers-by tossed a coin or two to help the poor.

    The next day McFee placed a similar pot at the Oakland Ferry Landing at the foot of Market Street. Beside the pot, he placed a sign that read, “Keep the Pot Boiling.” He soon had the money to see that the needy people were properly fed at Christmas.

    Six years later, the kettle idea spread from the west coast to the Boston area. That year, the combined effort nationwide resulted in 150,000 Christmas dinners for the needy. In 1901, kettle contributions in New York City provided funds for the first mammoth sit-down dinner in Madison Square Garden, a custom that continued for many years. Today in the U.S., The Salvation Army assists more than four-and-a-half million people during the Thanksgiving and Christmas time periods.

    McFee’s kettle idea launched a tradition that has spread not only throughout the United States, but all across the world. Kettles are now used in such distant lands as Korea, Japan, Chile and many European countries.

Volunteers needed

    Even though the kettle campaign is in full swing, Riggs said volunteers are still needed to ring bells at the various locations.

    “We’ve got plenty of open spots for individuals, clubs, churches, businesses – we welcome anyone who would like to volunteer to ring the bell,” he said.

    The bell ringing schedule is from 10 a.m.-7 p.m. daily, with the time extended to 8 p.m. closer to Christmas. Bell ringers usually work one-hour shifts and Riggs encourages wearing comfortable shoes and clothing which accommodates the current weather.

    “I don’t care how long you stand there moving your feet up and down on that sidewalk, it’s not going to get softer,” he said. “Make sure you wear good shoes, warm socks and be prepared for chilly weather. But also be prepared to smile and have a good time while you do it.”

    To sign up as a kettle bell ringer, call 601483-6156.