Charlestown-Nevis– The Salvation Army of St. Kitts & Nevis will have its First Ever Red Kettle Drive Launch on Nevis, on Saturday, 18 November 2017 starting at 2.00pm.
The War Memorial Square in Charlestown, will be the venue for this launch ceremony. Members of the Jamaican Kittitian/Nevisian (JamKitNev) Association and representatives of the Seniors Division in the Ministry of Social Development, Youth, Sports & Community Development on Nevis, have graciously consented to assist the Salvation Army, with coordinating the activities for the Launch Ceremony.
Heartfelt thanks is expressed to the Bank of Nevis for sponsorship of the Red Kettle Drive on Nevis.
Earlier that same day at 10.00 am, the Salvation Army of St. Kitts & Nevis will launch its Annual Red Kettle Drive on St. Kitts with a Launch Ceremony, starting at 10.00am. This will be held at The Circus, in front of CIBC- First Caribbean International Bank, Basseterre.
Special thanks is extended to CIBC- First Caribbean for again being a major sponsor of the Red Kettle Drive on St. Kitts.
Red Kettle History
In 1891, Salvation Army Captain Joseph McFee was distraught because so many poor individuals in San Francisco were going hungry. During the holiday season, he resolved to provide a free Christmas dinner for the destitute and poverty-stricken. He only had one major hurdle to overcome — funding the project.
Where the money would come from, he wondered. He lay awake nights, worrying, thinking, praying about how he could find the funds to fulfill his commitment of feeding 1,000 of the city’s poorest individuals on Christmas Day. As he pondered the issue, his thoughts drifted back to his sailor days in Liverpool, England. He remembered how at Stage Landing, where the boats came in, there was a large, iron kettle called “Simpson’s Pot” into which passers-by tossed a coin or two to help the poor.
The next day Captain McFee placed a similar pot at the Oakland Ferry Landing at the foot of Market Street. Beside the pot, he placed a sign that read, “Keep the Pot Boiling.” He soon had the money to see that the needy people were properly fed at Christmas.
Six years later, the kettle idea spread from the west coast to the Boston area. That year, the combined effort nationwide resulted in 150,000 Christmas dinners for the needy. In 1901, kettle contributions in New York City provided funds for the first mammoth sit-down dinner in Madison Square Garden, a custom that continued for many years. Today in the U.S., The Salvation Army assists more than four-and-a-half million people during the Thanksgiving and Christmas time periods.
Captain McFee’s kettle idea launched a tradition that has spread not only throughout the United States, but all across the world. Kettles are now used in such distant lands as Korea, Japan, Chile and many European countries. Everywhere, public contributions to Salvation Army kettles enable the organization to continue its year-round efforts at helping those who would otherwise be forgotten.