FIVE ELVES OF INTEREST
BY WILLI MILLER
PHOTO BY ED DRONDOSKI
Well over a hundred
60
years ago, a
Salvation Army
captain living
in San Francisco decided
that the poor people of his
city should not have to go
without a Christmas dinner.
To fund his wish to feed
them, Joseph McFee drew on
a memory from his youth in
England: a large kettle set out
to collect money for the poor.
The money he collected in
an iron pot in 1891 fed 1,000
people that holiday season,
and a tradition was born.
A hundred and twenty
years later, Red Kettle donations
still serve those in need
during the holidays, says
John Corapi, development
director for The Salvation
Army in Indian River County.
In 2009, county residents and
visitors dropped $144,000
into the kettles, a substantial
portion of the local chapter’s
$600,000 annual fundraising
budget, which includes
money from foundation and
corporate grants as well as
from individuals. Corapi
notes that 84 cents of every
dollar raised goes to sustaining
the organization’s
programs for the entire year.
Corapi, drawn by the mission
and rich philanthropic
history of The Salvation
Army, signed on as development
director more than a
year ago. With the Red Kettle
program as the major fundraiser
for the organization,
he begins planning for the
>>
SEASON OF CELEBRATION
The BOSS OF THE
BELL RINGERS