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SCHENECTADY – The Salvation Army remains true to the tradition that has worked so well for so long, in the hope that state-of-the-art cooking pots and volunteer bellmen will receive hundreds of thousands dollars this holiday season.
Coins and paper money are welcome. The checks are good too.
But credit cards, cryptocurrency applications and smartphone apps will not work in kettles around the capital, said Major Michael Himes, commander of the Salvation Army's Schenectady Corps.
"We have not yet adopted the electronic way," he said. "I guess that's going to happen one of those years.
"It is our headquarters that would take the initiative to push us in this direction."
Donations of electronic kettle are accepted in a few places in other states, he said.
Here in the Capital Region, customers wanting to help the kettle driver, but with little or no money – many of them – are directed to the Salvation Army website, where electronic donations are acceptable.
Schenectady's body has all his pots in place now, Himes said. Those outside the Wal-Mart were the last to settle on Black Friday.
"These are great sources of revenue, with supermarkets," he said.
Schenectady 's body has enough locations this year, said Himes, despite the loss of Target stores a few years ago, when the chain decided to stop hosting kettles. Local Wal-Mart, Price Chopper and Shoprite stores stock all the guest kettles, just like the Niskayuna Co-op. Hannaford does not do it, but he supports the Salvation Army in another way, Himes said.
Last week, he and his wife picked up 400 boxes of food offered by Hannaford and his buyers for distribution to the needy, he said.
He did not know exactly where he could place a kettle that would have a good flow of buyers walking.
"We could always use more places," said Himes, but more kettles also create the need for more ringtones.
This year, there are a good number of volunteers for the number of pots used. Groups of students and services provide group bells, he said. "And then a lot of people just want to volunteer each year."
The money raised in red kettles supports the activities of the Salvation Army throughout the year, starting with the delivery of 500 holiday meals from its Schenectady facility on the morning of Thanksgiving.
The tradition dates back to 1891 in San Francisco, when the first kettle was hung at the water's edge to raise funds for the Salvation Army to provide Christmas dinners to the poor. By 2018, donations to kettles on a national scale will support efforts to help more than 23 million Americans.
In the Greater Capital Region, the fundraising goal for the campaign is $ 755,000, which corresponds to the following regional totals:
- Albany $ 162,000
- Glens Falls $ 115,000
- Gloversville $ 50,000
- Hudson $ 61,000
- Oneonta $ 57,000
- Saratoga Springs $ 125,000
- Schenectady $ 120,000
- Troy $ 65,000
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