The Turlock Salvation Army’s 13th Annual Kettle Kickoff luncheon officially put the bell ringing season into effect.
The approximate 700 people in attendance got to see bell ringers and the well-known red kettles early as Kettle Klash teams hit up the room for donations.
The Kettle Klash teams hurried around the room for seven minutes with their kettles as people wanting to donate rang bells until a team member came by. During the seven minute event, teams collected just over $41,000. A $50,000 anonymous donation was also accepted.
All together, the Kettle Kickoff event accepted $91,000 in donations.
Kettle Klash teams included: We Can Build It (Clark Hulbert, Jerry Powell), The Bucket Brigade (Jim Madsen, Dennis Doo, Emma Perales), The Clean-up Crew (Bill Gibbs, Alan Marchant), Homes & Loans (Neil Weese, Mike Reilly, Kimberly Wisdorf), Covenant Village (Paul Barnes, Bob Harris, Bob Peterson, Karen Walker, Dwayne Gabrielson), Just Plain Nuts (Dean Doerksen, Jack Wilkey, Mark Edsall), The CSUS Scholars (Julie Fox, Anna Epperson, Bret Foray, Lynn Johnson), The Charity Belles (Chris Haynes, Dell Perales), and Leadership Turlock (Jennifer Beede, Jennifer Carlson, Shannon Nichols).
Special guest Alison Cox, an Olympic Silver Medalist in the Woman’s 8+ Rowing, spoke about her challenges and triumphs as she worked toward being an Olympic Medalist. The former Turlock athlete’s inspirational speaking tied in her experience of competing with her fellow Olympic hopefuls while also being on the same team, but the ultimate goal was the same as the Salvation Army’s… “Doing The Most Good.”
Currently, Alison Cox is a marketing agent with Ali Cox & Company in San Francisco.
The Salvation Army boasts the fact that 83% of donations go directly to the programs people contribute towards. This is among the highest percentages of any non-profit.
Since the Kettle Kickoff marks the official start of the “Bell Ringing” season, volunteer bell ringers are now needed. Contact the Turlock Salvation Army at 209-667-6091 to volunteer or for more information.
TurlockCityNews.com would like to especially recognize two sponsors of this event as they are also advertisers here, Backstage Academy of Dance and Coldwell Banker Endsley & Associates. Thanks for supporting the Turlock community!
