Charity find gold coins in collection kettles

Published: November 30, 2005 | 2870th good news item since 2003

Getting a jump on an annual tradition, anonymous donors already have dropped three gold coins into Salvation Army kettles in Will County.

Collecting three gold coins this early in the season is unusual, said Maj. Garry Lowder, commander of the Joliet Salvation Army Corps.

“Usually it takes a couple of weeks before we get one, but we’ve already gotten three, and we’ve only been out now since the 18th,” Lowder said.

Volunteer bell ringers are stationed next to kettles throughout Will County for the organization’s annual Red Kettle Christmas campaign, a fund-raising effort that provides money for food, toys and clothing for the less fortunate.

The first gold coin, a half-ounce piece worth about $5, was donated on the first day of the campaign at the Dominick’s grocery store at 950 Brookforest Ave. in Shorewood. Another half-ounce gold coin was dropped in the same kettle on Nov. 20, Lowder said.

It was likely sometime Saturday that a 1-ounce 1997 gold coin worth about $50 was donated. Lowder did not know where or when the piece was given because it went unnoticed until the money was pooled and taken to the bank.

Dropping gold coins into local Salvation Army kettles is a tradition that goes back about 25 years and originated in the Chicago area, Lowder said. In the six years The Salvation Army has held the Red Kettle campaign in Will County, the organization has received at least three gold coins each year. [Chicago Christmas: 100 Years of Christmas Memories]

Last year, the Joliet organization collected five or six gold pieces. In 2001, someone donated a $5 gold coin from 1887 that was worth $300 to $400, Lowder said.

On an average day, there are at least 35 bell ringers volunteering throughout Will County. Last year, the Joliet organization collected $163,589 in its kettles, as well as an additional $71,022 in donations to the campaign. The organization is looking to collect $200,000 this year in its Red Kettle campaign, Lowder said.

Published in Charity
See also: www.suburbanchicagonews.com