Salvation Army needs kettle volunteers

For more than 100 years, their bright kettles and merrily ringing bells have been a familiar and welcome sight to Christmas shoppers.

Now The Salvation Army needs kettle volunteers.

“As a kettle volunteer, you can share in the warm holiday tradition and provide a welcome opportunity to help those who are less fortunate,” says Salvation Army Field Director Janice Husmann.

This is Husmann’s fourth kettle year, and she says volunteers are harder to find this year.

“With the unemployment rate so low, more people are working and have less time to volunteer.”

According to its Web site, “The Salvation Army, an international movement, is an evangelical part of the universal Christian church. Its message is based on the Bible. Its ministry is motivated by the love of God. Its mission is to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and to meet human needs in his name without discrimination.”

More than 30 million people a year are aided in some way by services provided by The Salvation Army. As of 2005 its outreach included more than 100 countries, and its message was preached in more than 160 languages.

Founded in London in 1865, The Salvation Army has served the Pacific Northwest since 1890. It assists homeless people, stranded families and individuals, and those in emergency situations who need assistance with clothing, food, fuel, utilities, rent, lodging and prescriptions, and those who have lost their homes.

Other programs include disaster-relief services, day-care centers, summer camps, holiday assistance, services for the aging, AIDS education and residential services, medical facilities, shelters for battered women and children, family and career counseling, vocational training, correction services, and substance-abuse rehabilitation.

Any organization, club, business, small group or an individual, can adopt a kettle. Most kettles are staffed eight hours a day, and usually a volunteer can choose the day and the store.

“Volunteers may sign up for a weekly assignment or just a one-time commitment, and it is not necessary to stand the entire time as sitting is permitted,” says Husmann.

Kettle sites include Coeur d’Alene, Post Falls and Rathdrum at Super 1 Foods, Fred Meyer, ShopKo, Kmart, Albertsons, Wal-Mart, Walgreen’s and Safeway. Most kettles are placed outside, but there are a few stores that allow volunteers to step inside the door.

Volunteers are needed through Dec. 24, and hours are generally Tuesday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Volunteers are most needed on Saturday and Sunday, when holiday shopping traffic is the busiest.

“Volunteers can ‘ring the bell’ in twos, threes or fours,” says Husmann. “Team up with your children, friends and spend a few hours at the kettle.”

Husmann’s goal is to have community groups adopt a kettle for a day as a community project. The group is allowed to put up signage, play music and wear any costume other than Santa. Husmann stresses the importance to just have fun with the experience.

“Every year my kettle volunteers tell me heartfelt stories about people who stop to donate,” says Husmann. “The Salvation Army helped them during a catastrophe and now they want to help by giving back.

“The Coeur d’Alene community is always very supportive, and donations have risen every year,” says Husmann. “People here have a giving heart.”