SA 2022 Annual Report Spreads Final (3) - Flipbook - Page 23
History of The Salvation Army Red Kettle
In 1891, Salvation Army Captain Joseph McFee
was distraught because so many poor individuals in
San Francisco were going hungry. During the holiday
season, he resolved to provide a free Christmas dinner
for the destitute and poverty-stricken. He only had
one major hurdle to overcome - funding the project.
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Where would the money come from, he wondered.
He lay awake nights, worrying, thinking, praying about
how he could find the funds to fulfill his commitment
of feeding 1,000 of the city’s poorest individuals on
Christmas Day. As he pondered the issue, his thoughts
drifted back to his sailor days in Liverpool, England.
He remembered how at Stage Landing, where the
boats came in, there was a large, iron kettle called
“Simpson’s Pot” into which passers-by tossed a coin
or two to help the poor.
The next day Captain McFee placed a similar pot
at the Oakland Ferry Landing at the foot of Market
Street. Beside the pot, he placed a sign that read,
“Keep the Pot Boiling.”
He soon had the money to see that the needy people
were properly fed at Christmas.
Six years later, the kettle idea spread from the west
coast to the Boston area. That year, the combined effort
nationwide resulted in 150,000 Christmas dinners for
the needy. In 1901, kettle contributions in New York City
provided funds for the first mammoth sit-down dinner
in Madison Square Garden, a custom that continued
for many years. Today in the U.S., The Salvation Army
assists more than four-and-a-half million people during
the Thanksgiving and Christmas time periods.
Captain McFee’s kettle idea launched a tradition that
has spread not only throughout the United States,
but all across the world. Kettles are now used in such
distant lands as Korea, Japan, Chile and many European
countries. Everywhere, public contributions to Salvation
Army kettles enable the organization to continue its
year-round efforts at helping those who would otherwise
be forgotten.
2021 Financials
TANF
$133,281
United Way
$145,000
City of Columbus
$174,778
Community Gift in Kind
$620,713
Investment Earnings
$680,519
REVENUE
Net Sale of Goods
$1,753,299
Grants
$2,552,218
Public Contributions
$6,896,431
$12,956,239
Total Revenue
89 Cents of Every Loc al Doll ar Donated
Goes Directly to Those in Need
Fundraising
$388,536
Administration
$468,528
Program & General
$10,570,472
EXPENSES
$11, 427,536
$12,956,239
*Sale of Goods at Salvation Army Thrift stores supports the Adult Rehabilitation Center.
Total Expenses
$11,427,536
Surplus/Deficit
$1,528,703
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