OMAHA, Neb.—The Omaha chapter of the Salvation Army struck gold while counting donations in its red kettles.
Salvation Army spokeswoman Susan Eustice said a South African gold Krugerrand in a sealed plastic package was hidden among the pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters and dollar bills in one of the kettles.
“The volunteer who was counting donations nearly fell out of her chair when she came across the Krugerrand,” Eustice said Wednesday.
Eustice said a coin expert told the Salvation Army that the 22-karat coin, which has about a quarter-ounce of gold, was worth about $250. But the value fluctuates with the price of gold.
The Krugerrand—deposited in a kettle outside a Kmart in northwest Omaha Monday—was the first gold coin donation here.
“Certainly it was a wonderful surprise,” Eustice said. She didn’t know who the donor was, and no one has come forward.
The Omaha Salvation Army received sizable kettle donations of $1,000 cash in the 1990s, but nothing like the Krugerrand.
Eustice said gold coin kettle donations are something of a tradition elsewhere. In Chicago, for example, more than 300 gold coins have been donated over the past 25 years.
Diamond rings and the occasional gold tooth also turn up in the kettles from time to time.
And in south-central Pennsylvania, five golden rings were dropped into kettles in 2005, bringing to mind the popular Christmas song, “The Twelve Days of Christmas.”
The Salvation Army’s kettle campaign began in 1891, when Capt. Joseph McGee in San Francisco wanted to provide a free Christmas dinner for the poor.
The former sailor received permission from the city to place a pot at the Oakland ferry landing, drawing donations from those traveling to and from the boats.
The tradition has spread around the world. The Salvation Army said contributions to the red kettles, which can be found outside most major stores in the weeks before the holidays, support programs that help the elderly, the poor, the ill and prison inmates.
In Omaha, the Salvation Army chapter has raised more than $1 million so far this year on the way to its goal of $2.6 million, Eustice said.
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