Salvation Army Kettle kickoff collects $41K
Glendale Salvation Army volunteers will once again be ringing bells and asking for donations outside local grocery stores as part of the annual kettle campaign.
About 19 of the nonprofit’s signature red donation kettles will be set up for the fundraising drive that lasts from Nov. 24 through Christmas Eve.
A kickoff breakfast held Friday at the Glendale Civic Auditorium raised $41,000.
Last year’s morning event raised $69,000. Adding in the kettle donations for 2014 raised the total to nearly $105,000.
Tuany Vo helps serve breakfast during the 2015 Kettle Kick Off breakfast at the Glendale Civic Auditorium in Glendale on Friday, November 20, 2015.
Lt. Joshua Sneed, who oversees the local nonprofit, said he’ll be glad if the same total was raised again to support the slew of services offered to the less fortunate in Glendale.
“You’re making good things happen here. We could not to do this without people like you,” Sneed told an audience of about 200 people at the breakfast.
The local Salvation Army chapter runs a food pantry that feeds 450 families a month, an after-school program for at-risk youth and Meals on Wheels, which delivers hot meals to 35 seniors.
“These are programs that the city of Glendale could not provide. That’s why we support the Salvation Army wholeheartedly,” said Mayor Ara Najarian in his remarks.
One of the programs that’s in most need of funding is the Nancy Painter Home for Mothers and Children, which helps domestic-abuse victims. Eight families are housed there at a time and it can get costly, Sneed said.
“It continues to be a challenge for us to fund this program because it’s an expensive need,” he said. “You get an entire family out of there and into a home.”
Guests of the Glendale chapter of the Salvation Army enjoy the 2015 Kettle Kick Off breakfast at the Glendale Civic Auditorium in Glendale on Friday, November 20, 2015.
The newest program, a free monthly movie screening, started nine months ago.
“[The programs’] success means the world to hundreds of families the Salvation Army services every day,” said Deputy Police Chief Carl Povilaitis.
Some of the newer red kettles are plastic while others pulled from the closet for the annual fundraiser are made of metal and have been used for 60 years, Sneed said.
He’s seen everything from foreign currency to a wedding ring (accidentally) dropped through the slot.
There have been roughly seven accounts of people donating gold coins in states like Oregon and Pennsylvania. Sneed has his fingers crossed he’ll come across one, too.
“If I get one of those someday, it’s going to be a special day for sure,” Sneed said.
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Arin Mikailian, arin.mikailian@latimes.com
Twitter: @ArinMikailian
