Downtown Rotarians Russell Grice and Fred Kent III rang the bell at City Hall Thursday for the Salvation Army’s annual “Red Kettle” fundraising drive.
They were two of more than a dozen club members who volunteered this year at City Hall and the Landing.
The club will celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2012, but the Red Kettle tradition began 120 years ago.
In 1891, Salvation Army Capt. Joseph McFee was concerned about people going hungry during the holiday season, so he pledged to provide a Christmas dinner to the destitute and poverty-stricken. He raised the money for the project by placing an iron pot at the foot of Market Street at the Oakland ferry landing and encouraging passers-by to toss in a few coins.
The idea raised enough money in its inaugural year that McFee was able to feed 1,000 people. Since then, the Red Kettle has appeared all over the United States, Europe, Asia and South America.
The bell ringers help the Salvation Army feed more than 4.5 million people at Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Last year, Downtown Rotary raised almost $13,000 in its day of bell-ringing. The club has pitched in to record the highest Red Kettle drive one-day total in Jacksonville every year for the past 35 years.
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