Salvation Army in Cape Girardeau is looking for in-person adult bell ringers at eight locations in Cape Girardeau County beginning the day after Thanksgiving, Friday, Nov. 25.
Those interested in volunteering to ring for the traditional red kettle drive are invited to sign up for a day and time online at www.registertoring.com/shifts-locations.aspx.
In San Francisco, Joseph McFee — a Salvation Army captain — was searching for a way to provide a free Christmas dinner to the city's destitute and poverty-stricken in 1891. Needing funds for the project, he remembered once seeing a large, iron kettle in Liverpool, England, where passersby would toss in a coin or two to help the poor. Inspired by the example, McFee placed a similar kettle at Oakland Ferry Landing on San Francisco's Market Street. McFee's effort was successful and poor San Franciscans were fed for the holidays 131 years ago — spawning the "red kettle" drive in the U.S.
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