The Seas
on of Giving is the Most Wonderful time of the year if a person can afford presents and warmth for their children. If not then it seems like every other season of the year. Enter the Salvation Army. The making of the Salvation army was so people in communities who desperately needed food, clothing and other daily needs could receive them.
However, food costs money. This is the reason the Salvation Army has people collecting money in red kettles. The Salvation Army is a part of an evangelical Christian church. The evangelicals believe that the best way to show God’s love is through giving to others. Because of this, the Salvation Army strives to “provide personal counseling and undertake the spiritual and moral regeneration and physical rehabilitation of all persons in need who come within its sphere of influence regardless of race, color, creed, sex or age.”
How does the Salvation Army obtain the money to distribute supplies to people? Well according to their website, ¨Local Salvation Army units raise funds to support their local services. There is no national fundraising in The Salvation Army. Funds raised in each community serve the people in that community who are recovering from many kinds of personal disasters.¨
What types of services are they referring to? ¨Christmas services include toys for needy children, food for the family, clothing, and small practical gifts for shut-ins. Throughout the year that same local Salvation Army provides specific programs to aid the poor and needy such as food, emergency and transitional shelter, job training, financial help, day care and after school care, youth recreation and development programs. In some larger communities, the services are far more complex and will include drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers and hospice care for AIDS victims and their families.¨
The Salvation Army dedicates itself to doing as much good as they possibly can to help communities across the world. Also, since the services aren’t provided at a national level, the money goes into the Camas community. It helps the poor people in Camas; the people who can’t always afford to buy their kids Christmas gifts.
The money in the red kettles may seem pointless, but it is actually doing a kettle full of good. That is why it makes sense that the red kettles come out at Christmas time. It is the Salvation Army reminding the people of Camas of what the Christmas season is all about. It is a way of reminding people worldwide that no matter the religion, it is an American duty to offer to others what they cannot provide for themselves. It is a duty worldwide to make every season of life one of giving, so that others may know the happiness of life and the holidays.
