The Salvation Army’s Red Kettle Drive at the Hampton Fareway store will get underway Wednesday, November 26th.
Funds raised during this time support local families with needs such as holiday assistance, food, shelter and other emergency services. The impact of the Salvation Army’s work is personal for volunteer Fritz Groszkruger. Reflecting on his youth in Alaska, he explains how the organization supported him after he ran out of money waiting for a logging job to open.
“The logging business was kind of slow where I lived in northwest Montana and I went to Alaska and I was too early for the logging season to open up up there. I ended up in Sitka and it drizzles rain all the time up there. There happened to be a Salvation Army in Sitka, like a ranch style house, and I stayed in there for about a week before the hiring started, then I got right on. But I was very thankful for that. Before that I was in Juneau and camping out, up this canyon I could hear avalanches all night long while I was sleeping there in my soaking wet sleeping bag. I was very thankful for the Salvation Army.”
Reflecting on the benefits of volunteering, Groszkruger notes how it allows you to make meaningful connections with others.
“There’s one fellow, he always volunteers, and the main thing that I remember that he said was, ‘everybody should try this just to find out how fun it is.’ Cause you’re standing there outside the only grocery store in town, and kids are coming home for Christmas. You haven’t seen them since like the little league days or whatever. And it’s really great to see the neighbors come and go and to just see the joy of the season as people come in and out of Fareway and say ‘Merry Christmas’ or give their kids a little change to put in the kettle. Yeah, it’s just really a blast. Everybody should try it.”
Those interested in volunteering for the Salvation Army’s Red Kettle Drive in Hampton can contact Groszkruger at 641-425-49-29. Volunteers are needed on Friday evenings and all day on Saturdays through Christmas Eve.
