Mystery donor drops gold Krugerrand in Salvation Army kettle

The Salvation Army so far has 969 children who will receive toys and 553 families receiving food support – and more families are calling every day.

Santa tossed a present into a Salvation Army red kettle over the weekend.

“One of the misconceptions is that the bell ringers are out there raising money for Christmas, but they’re actually raising money for our overall budget”, Salvation Army commanding officer Major Ed Binnix said.

Standing in line in the cold on Tuesday morning, Vanessa Altamirano, a Lubbock mother of three says she is thankful.

“It’s clear that here in MA, generosity is contagious, and we’re overjoyed to see this phenomenon spreading throughout the Commonwealth”, he said.

Unfortunately, with bad weather over the Thanksgiving holiday and less foot traffic to stores, kettle donations should be up a little more than what they now are.

Stanley has asked people to donate all the money that would have gone towards buying her gifts, according to the Salvation Army.

He said this weekend there will be a big push for Red Kettle donations. On Eyewitness News at 5:30 p.m., we’ll hear from a volunteer who says this mission is close to her heart because it takes her back to her childhood in California.

Also last week, a Salvation Army Red Kettle outside the Stop & Shop in Swampscott received two separate jewelry donations. The group has more than 700 families on this list this year, so a Christmas miracle is always in need.

The Salvation Army Central Okanagan is behind by $325,000 in reaching its fundraising goal of $700,000 to help families during the Christmas season and fund other ongoing services throughout the year.

Last Christmas, the organization provided food hampers for more than 1,600 people and toy hampers to 900 children.

While these larger donations are helpful for the cause, the Salvation Army says overall they have raised less than in past years during this holiday season.