A call for kettle bell volunteers

SANDPOINT — In 1891, a Salvation Army captain started a holiday tradition that has helped those in need for 125 years and counting, including Bonner County.

Captain Joseph McFee started the annual Salvation Army Red Kettle Campaign in San Francisco when he made a commitment to feed 1,000 of the city's poorest individuals on Christmas Day. During his travels, McFee had seen an iron kettle called "Simpson's Pot" at Stage Landing in Liverpool, England, where people would toss in coins to help the poor.

After placing a similar kettle at the Oakland Ferry Landing on San Francisco Bay with a sign that said, "Keep the Pot Boiling," McFee was able to fulfill his commitment to those in need. Since then, the campaign has grown across the country and the world.

Each year, volunteers set out with their bells and red kettles the day after Thanksgiving and continue at their posts through Christmas Eve. Here it is, that time of year again, and Janice Coquillard, field representative for the Salvation Army Northwest Division, said they are in "desperate" need of kettle bell ringer volunteers at the Sandpoint locations — Yoke's, Super 1 Foods, Safeway and Walmart. 

While they try to cover every Friday and Saturday at each store from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., she said any other day "would be great" as well. Groups and families are especially encouraged to adopt a kettle for a day, as the Kiwanis Club of Sandpoint does each Saturday, but all individuals are welcome to volunteer, if only for an hour or two.

"We look for banks, service clubs, churches, individuals, families — as many as we can find," Coquillard said. "We'd be out there Tuesday through Saturday if we had enough volunteers."

Coquillard said volunteering as a kettle bell ringer is "a lot of fun" and a great experience, especially when kids bring a bag of change they have been saving all year and dump it into the kettle.

"It's really heart warming," Coquillard said. "It's neighbor helping neighbor, because the money goes back into the community to help the community."

While McFee raised money to feed those in need on Christmas, the campaign now helps with many emergency services including food, rental assistance, utilities, fuel, prescriptions and more. Coquillard said with the price of summer camps today, the Salvation Army also sends area children from low-income families to its summer camp, Camp Gifford, near Spokane each year using some of the donations.  

Sandpoint Church of the Nazarene partners with the Salvation Army to help assist those in the community with emergency needs.

Coquillard said the goal each year is to do better than last; local volunteers raised about $15,000 last season, with more than $150 million collected across the United States.

"It's our only fundraiser the we do publicly for the year, so it's a very important four weeks," Coquillard said.

Anyone interested in volunteering may contact the local kettle coordinator, Glenna Roberts, at 208-263-8598.