Salvation Army, The

Human Events, Dec 27, 2004 by Bluey, Robert B

Conservative Spotlight

The Salvation Army has collected money in its red kettles to feed the poor for 114 years, making it an annual Christmas tradition. But this year, the Salvation Army has faced a number of challenges, including changes in the way consumers spend their money-increasingly with credit cards-and a decision by huge retailer Target to prohibit bellringers from soliciting outside its stores.

Undaunted, the Salvation Army plans to put food on the table in 1,500 communities across the United States again this holiday season. Each community keeps what it raises through its red kettle collection. Last year, the Salvation Army raised $93 million through these collections, much of it coming from the spare change and extra dollars dropped into its red kettles.

The collections have become such an established part of Christmastime in America that when Target announced its decision to bar bell-ringers this year, calls for a boycott ensued. The Salvation Army took the decision in stride, deciding it was best not to publicly protest Target's decision. As it turned out, help was on the way. Wal-Mart pledged to match up to $1 million of its customers' contributions at its more than 3,600 stores, a decision that was lauded by the Salvation Army's national leaders, W. Todd and Carol Bassett.

"It's all about making sure there are funds coming in at the rate that we normally have so that people can be served," said Maj. George Hood, a spokesman at the Salvation Army's headquarters in Alexandria, Va. He said Wal-Mart has been a partner not just at Christmas, but also throughout the year when it provided assistance for disaster relief efforts and helped feed the hungry.

Wal-Mart isn't alone. Michaels, the arts and crafts store, stepped forward in a show of support for the bell-ringers, and Books-A-Million announced it would house collection bins in 100 of its stores. Still, the loss of red kettles outside Target stores is expected to have an impact. Last year the Salvation Army collected about $9 million at those stores, which amounted to nearly 10% of its total intake.

The Salvation Army is also grappling with consumers' increasing use of credit cards to pay for their goods, leaving them without the spare change in their pockets that they used to drop into the red kettles. This year the Salvation Army experimented with credit-card donations in Phoenix and Pittsburgh locations. Also, a website, 1800salarmy.org, has an electronic kettle that takes donations.

Despite these new elements, the mission of the Salvation Army and its red kettle program hasn't wavered in the 114 years since Capt. Joseph McFee of San Francisco's Salvation Army devised the idea. McFee wanted to provide a free Christmas meal to the needy of San Francisco when he recalled from his days as a sailor in Liverpool, England, a collection taken in a large pot where passers-by could throw their spare money. Four years later, in 1895, the idea had spread to locations along the West Coast, and by the turn of the 20th Century, it was being hailed in New York and Boston.

Today, the red kettle can be found in places across the world. More than 5-million people in the United States are served, annually at Christmas because of kettle donations. Human bell-ringers have been replaced in some locations by public address systems that sing Christmas carols.

Although the Salvation Army might be best known for the charitable work it does at Christmas, the organization works yearround to help the poor, as it has done since its founding in 1865 by William Booth. For instance, its nationwide thrift stores sell donated clothing and furniture, which benefit a drug and alcohol rehabilitation program. Participants in the rehab program are employed in the thrift stores, overseeing the distribution and sale of the goods.

The Salvation Army's 3.5 million annual volunteers are vital, but they make up only one portion of its supporters. Commissioned officers, such as the Bassetts and Hood, form the leadership of the Salvation Army. Hood became an ordained minister after taking an intense two-year course, illustrating the joint function of the Salvation Army as a church and charitable organization. Members of the Salvation Army, the laity, are known as soldiers. About 450,000 soldiers live in the United States,

"It's the one group that has not strayed from its mission from 1865 to this day," said Jay Parker, an enthusiastic volunteer who sits its board of advisers and was once the chairman. "They say, 'Soup, soap and salvation,' and they have stayed with it, helping people one at a time."

The Salvation Army may be reached at 615 Slaters Lane, Alexandria, VA 22313 (1-800-SALARMY; www.salvationarmyusa.org).