Over the weekend, a Minnesota couple walked up to one of the Salvation Army’s signature red kettles outside a Cub Foods grocery store in suburban Minneapolis and dropped in a headline-grabbing donation—a check for $500,000. The donation far surpasses the previous area record of $25,000 and will seriously skew the curve on the $30 an hour rate the kettles usually take in. In fact, on Tuesday, the Salvation Army confirmed to the Minneapolis Star Tribune that the gift was the largest single kettle donation in the history of the charity.
Here’s more on what moved the donors, who have remained anonymous, to give (via the Star Tribune):
The couple said they made the gift in hopes of encouraging others to also stretch their generosity and to honor one of their fathers, who served in the trenches in World War I and was grateful to the Salvation Army “doughnut lassies” who brought soldiers free coffee and doughnuts. They said they were also inspired by memories from years ago of relying on discarded food from a grocery store to make ends meet.
“We are simply stunned and honored to have received such a generous gift,” Major Jeff Strickler, the Salvation Army’s commander for the Twin Cities, said of the donation. “This is a true blessing, and it could not come at a better time for the Salvation Army and the people we serve.”
