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Donor drops $5,000 check in Salvation Army kettle in La Cañada

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Found amid all the loose change and dollar bills dropped into a red Salvation Army kettle outside a grocery store in La Cañada Flintridge was a check for $5,000.

The check signed by a Glendale resident was discovered this month in a red kettle outside a Ralphs.

The donation came as a shock to Lt. Joshua Sneed, who oversees Salvation Army in Glendale. What caught him most off guard was the fact it wasn’t made by a repeat donor, but a first timer.

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He called the check a very “tangible gift,” pointing out the funds collected in the area stay local.

“It’s a great way to make a difference in your community,” Sneed said.

The local Salvation Army runs a food pantry that serves nearly 500 families a month and offers other services such as the Meals on Wheels programs for seniors.

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The nonprofit has helped out Eagle Rock resident John Sheperd in the past, and in return, he’s been a bell ringer for the annual kettle campaign since the 1980s.

It was his collection of donations for the day where the $5,000 check was found.

“It came as quite a surprise. Usually when people write checks it ranges from $20 to $100, but never before that big,” Sheperd said of the woman’s donation.

And despite being vigilant to thank everyone who drops some change or a couple bucks into the kettle, he doesn’t know who the check donor was. The donor has not given permission to be identified.

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Though $5,000 is a record for the local Salvation Army, a chapter in Minnesota made national headlines when a couple left a check for $500,000.

“Five thousand is still good, but I would have done black flips into the parking lot for half a million,” Sheperd said.

Christmas Eve is the last day of the annual Salvation Army Kettle Campaign. So far, according to Sheperd, more than $40,000 has been raised for the Glendale Salvation Army from about 20 area red kettles.

Arin Mikailian writes for Times Community News.

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