The Salvation Army of Korea (Commander: Park Jong-deok, center in photo) held the “Beautiful Companion” service, a ceremony launching volunteers’ activities for Christmas kettle fundraising, on November 24 at the Salvation Army Art Hall in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul. Salvation Army will begin its Christmas kettle campaign on December 1 at Seoul City Hall Plaza.
Commander Park said, “In the currently poor economic situation, some worry that our campaign may not succeed. I believe, however, that the public will be even more on the side of our marginalized neighbors at this time of economic distress. The Christmas kettle will boil again this year… Furthermore, thanks to our passionate volunteers, the Christmas kettle has been a great symbol of love for our neighbors every year so far, and I look forward to good results again this year.”
Approximately 500 Christmas kettle volunteers and Salvation Army officers participated in this day’s event, which included a performance by the K-pop group Ulala Session and a musical about the Christmas kettle.
The street fundraising campaign with Christmas kettles will be in action at 360 spots in 76 regions throughout the country from this coming December 1st to the 31st. This year’s volunteers number 50,000, and the targeted amount is 6.5 billion won, half a billion won more than last year’s target.
Salvation Army’s first Christmas kettle was in 1891, when Salvation Army Captain Joseph McFee set out a kettle at Oakland Ferry Landing near San Francisco for donations to help the poor at Christmas time. Christmas kettles first appeared in Korea in 1928. Approximately 126 countries currently carry out Christmas kettle campaigns.
Commander Park said, “This is the 87th year of the Christmas kettle in Korea. We’ll keep going even after our centennial. I hope the citizens will join wholeheartedly in our Christmas kettle campaign again this year.”
Reporter Park Ji Hun (lucidfall@kmib.co.kr), with Yeara Ahn-Park (yap@kmib.co.kr)
Photo courtesy of Salvation Army Korea
Click here for the original article in Korean
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