Salvation Army bell ringers have returned to storefronts across Kaua‘i, ringing in the Christmas holiday season. The bell ringers are part of a three-fold holiday fundraising program being launched by the Salvation Army. Funds go to help the needy folks
Salvation Army bell ringers have returned to storefronts across Kaua‘i, ringing in the Christmas holiday season.
The bell ringers are part of a three-fold holiday fundraising program being launched by the Salvation Army.
Funds go to help the needy folks of Kaua‘i.
Salvation Army folks launched the “adopt-a-kettle” program Friday.
They are also gearing up for a “Breakfast with Santa” event and the Lokahi Giving Tree Program, to which people can make contributions. Both events are scheduled to be held in the events area of the Kukui Grove Shopping Center on Dec. 4.
Getting more participation in the projects and more volunteers for the Salvation Army projects and others will determine how effective the humanitarian organization can continue to provide services to Kaua‘i’s needy residents.
Kaua‘i’s economy has gotten better, but “the need (for assistance to the needy) has gotten greater,” the Kaua‘i Salvation Army’s Captain Mitham Clement said Friday.
“Not everybody is working and not everybody is making money,” he said.
Those who work have to pay mortgages or rent, car payments and food bills, “and by the time you have paid everything, there isn’t enough to buy a gift or something for your daughter or son. And that is where the Salvation Army comes in,” Clement said.
Salvation Army provides food, clothes, toys and funds to provide shelter for the less fortunate, according to Clement.
Getting the “adopt-a-kettle program” off the ground has not been easy this year because the project is undermanned at this point, Clement said.
“I am sorry to say we have only six people so far,” he said. “We had hoped to have a lot more volunteers to man the 15 (red-kettle) locations.”
The volunteers are needed to man 11 kettle locations in the Lihu‘e “core ” area and four in the Hanapepe and Waimea area for the holidays, Clement said.
The volunteers who came out Friday manned kettles in front of Big Save in Lihu‘e, Wal-Mart, Sueoka Store in Koloa and the Big Save Store in Koloa, Clement said.
“Today (Friday) was the first day the kettles were put out, and we will be there until Christmas Eve,” Clement said.
Clement said he hopes more volunteers will step forward as they get more into holiday spirit. “People are buying gifts, and they have to warm up to the holiday season,” Clement said.
In contrast, 75 volunteers came out for the red kettle project last year, mostly because of a call for help, Clement said. “We are off to a slow start, but I think, I hope, things will be change,” he said.
Clement said organizations or individuals can work as many days as they want. Six individuals, for instance, can work two-hour shifts from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., he said.
The red kettle project has been a success story for the local Salvation Army branch. “We did $21,000 in 2002, and did $31,000 last year,” Clement said. “We are hoping, of course, to do better this year, so we can do more (to help the needy). All of the money stays on Kaua‘i.”
Kauaians who want to volunteer for the project can call Clement at 245-2571 or 652-1285.
The idea behind using red kettles to collect funds for the needy started in the late 1800s, when Joseph McFee, a Salvation Army captain, looked for ways to provide a free Christmas dinner for the needy.
As the story goes, McFee recalled his days as a sailor living in Liverpool, England, and remembered large pots being put on pier docks and the generous donations folks placed into them.
As folklore goes, McFee felt he could do the same, and in time he went to California, secured permission and placed a large pot at an Oakland ferry landing in the San Francisco Bay.
In no time, donations poured in. Today the tradition of Salvation Army red kettle program thrives in the United States and the world.
The Kaua‘i branch of the Salvation Army also has scheduled the “Breakfast With Santa” program in the events area of the Kukui Grove Shopping Center from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. on Dec. 4. Tickets are $5, but the meals are free for children under the age of three.
“We are grateful to have the Kukui Grove Shopping Center (management) support us for a third year,” Clement said. The food is provided by merchants.
Between 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. the same day, the Salvation Army will launch the Lokahi Giving Tree Program, through which donations will be collected by Salvation Army personnel and volunteers for dispersal to the needy, Clement said.
“People can donate household goods like towels, cooking utensils, unwrapped toys,” Clement said. “We have over 500 families sign up for holiday assistance, and every year the numbers go up.”
Although the economy (of Kaua‘i) is up, “the need is getting greater,” he said.
For the Lokahi Giving Tree Program, Ron Mizutani, a television news reporter with KHON in Honolulu, will be the guest host. Entertainment will be provided as well.
For the rest of the holiday season, the Salvation Army will carry out other programs to help the needy. They include the Angel Tree program, the Holiday Food Drive and the Community Care Ministries.
Clement also said Salvation Army staffers and volunteers also will disperse toys collected through the Toys for Tots program sponsored by the U.S. Marine Corps. League and the Navy’s Pacific Missile Range Facility.
Lester Chang, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 225) and lchang@pulitzer.net
