The kettle campaign, according to Salvation Army Capts. Ed and Terrie Cheshire, who administer the local Salvation Army Corps, is of tremendous importance.

Not only is the money important, but the Salvation Army is seeking volunteers to man the kettles this holiday season.

“The more volunteers we can get the better,” Terrie Cheshire explained. “We always need all the help we can get, because we always run short of people to man the kettles throughout each day during the holiday season. Someone still has to be there, however, so we wind up supplementing the volunteers with paid workers. And it just bears to reason that the more volunteers we have, the less we have to spend on paid workers.”

Those wishing to volunteer can contact Salvation Army officials by calling 267-8239.

Funds the kettle campaign generates are very important, the Cheshires noted.

“That money allows us to supplement the food that’s donated for holiday food packages,” Terrie Cheshire said. “It also becomes extremely important when we run into a situation like we did last year, when several of the Angel Trees had cards that weren’t adopted. Money from the kettles allowed us to buy presents for the unadopted angels so that nobody went without.”

Salvation Army personnel will begin taking applications Tuesday from people who will need a food basket for Christmas.

“We’ve already got almost 800 people that will be fed through this project already,” she said, “but we want to make sure that if people are in need, we can help out.”

Cheshire said those processing applications will need a picture ID for the applicant, Social Security cards for everyone living in the home, proof of all household income and all household bills. This includes all expenses incurred during the month such as car insurance, credit cards and loans.

Applications will be taken from 9 a.m. to noon and from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday at the Salvation Army Corps Building, located at 811 W. Fifth St.

The Salvation Army officers also stressed that they have funding for Texas military personnel now serving or that have served in Iraq or Afghanistan.

Military personnel who’ve served in Iraq or Afghanistan or their family members may apply at the Corps building or call 267-8239.

Money for that program is funded by the TRIAD Fund of Permian Basin Area Foundation.

The Salvation Army’s Angel Tree project will get under way Nov. 23. Angel Trees will be located at the Howard County Library, Higginbotham-Bartlett, the Heritage Museum, Maurice’s, Bealls and Walmart.

Contact Managing Editor John A. Moseley at 263-7331, ext. 230, or by e-mail at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it