Help Lakeside Title help the needy of Howard County
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 would the money 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.
Lakeside Title has been corporately participating in this Salvation Army charity for over three years now. This is their main holiday charity and the proceeds go local Howard County families in desperate need and will help to subsidize heating bills, rent, provide food, clothing and some toys for children.
Our local Wells Fargo Mortgage office organized the contest format with local real estate industry offices and called it “The Wells Fargo Salvation Army Kettle Challenge.” So Lakeside Title is competing to raise the most money as a team. It’s for a great cause and Lakeside Title likes to win (they have won two of the last three years). Join them on 12.20.2010 to ring the bell outside Macy’s at The Mall in Columbia. Come ring the bell for at least an hour that day with them. When you speak with co-workers who have participated in the past, you will find how gratifying the experience was for them and how you play a necessary role in assisting local neighbors in serious need. Everyone who volunteers their time will be so glad they did.
Additionally, this year there is an online kettle at the link below where anyone can donate via credit card and the online donations are credited to the Lakeside Title’s team total.
http://give.salvationarmyusa.org/goto/Lakeside_Title_Company
