Minnesota Couple Drops $500,000 Check Into Salvation Army Kettle

Talk about the season of giving. Just when most of us had our annual limit of disgust at how folks acted during black Friday... This comes in to assuage it quite a bit.

And before anyone says it was done for attention... The couple has chosen to remain completely anonymous.

A Minnesota couple — who at one time lived on discarded food — quietly put a personal check for $500,000 into a Salvation Army kettle located outside a grocery store in a Twin Cities suburb over the weekend.

The emblematic red kettle, which the humanitarian organization have set up in public places to solicit donations across the globe for decades, was placed outside a Cub Foods in Rosemount, Minn. — a town about twenty miles outside of Minneapolis/St. Paul.

At the time, the kettle was being manned by volunteers from the Rosemount Fire Department. When the couple dropped in their check, the firefighters were unaware that the donation had been made and only hours later realized the bounty they had stumbled across, Salvation Army Northern Division spokeswoman Julie Borgen told NBC News.

Paying it forward in spades -

When the Salvation Army reached out to the couple whose name was on the check, they insisted on remaining behind the scenes, Borgen said. They said the donation was a way for them to give back and added that they wanted to honor one of their fathers who served in World War I and was always grateful to Salvation Army "Doughnut Lassies" who brought soldiers free coffee and treats.

The donors told the Salvation Army they had relied on discarded food from a local grocery store as a young couple and can now afford to help others.

"You get to a point in life where it's time to take care of others, the way you were taken care of," the donors said in a statement from the Salvation Army.

It's funny how those with less money are generally wiling to help others. The same holds true for many who know what it is like to struggle through life at one time or another. I'm glad they didn't forget "where they came from".

You can read more here - www.nbcnews.com...

a reply to: Kangaruex4Ewe

So lemme get this straight… they wished to remain anonymous but wrote their name on the check.

I know, how dare me question such charity.

a reply to: intrptr

I assume that they wrote out a check so they could have a record and to prevent anyone from pocketing any of it until it got to where it was supposed to go.

I could be assuming wrong though. I certainly wouldn't have put cash in either and had they gotten a money order... they require a name/signature and address as well.

a reply to: Kangaruex4Ewe

I assume that they wrote out a check so they could have a record and to prevent anyone from pocketing any of it until it got to where it was supposed to go.

But thats what most charities do, 'pocket' it.

An 'honest' scam, their donations will spike this holiday season as a result.

Ahhh, they gave so much, honey lets put a little in their basket this year.

Legal panhandling. If truly needy people stood out front of stores and solicited, they'd be arrested.

a reply to: intrptr

Not to mention, a charitable donation would require a paper trail to for tax purposes. More to those who need as opposed to the IRS....

Im sad they gave it to the Starvation Army. In our area, they are not helpful to the poor. In fact, I have personally taken a young women 8 mo. preg to them for help with baby stuff. They gave her a bag of groceries. Nothing beyond the groceries. I drove her over to a local church, explained her situation, and they had me back up my truck to their warehouse, and they loaded it with everything she needed to get her apartment going plus what she needed for the baby.

A while later, I took a friend going through a bad divorce to them for help, they gave her a voucher for a few household items. But she could only get pots and pans that were marked under (I cant remember exactly but like $2) In other words, everything they would help her with had to be the junkiest of junk. She wound up with a beat up pepto pink couch. lol She was grateful, but people think their donations are really helping the poor, but it is really going into the hierarchy of the Church.

Boo Starvation Army. truthin7minutes.com...

a reply to: Kangaruex4Ewe

What a nice gesture....and such happy news for a change...thanks for posting

We need more people like this couple....maybe not to give the large amount they did....but to give.
Not just at Christmas, but throughout the year.
And not just $$$....sometimes time and talent are needed by charities.

a reply to: DontTreadOnMe

I agree. Regardless of how anyone feels about the charity, this couple donated a ton of money! We could celebrate their spirit of generosity if nothing else.

Everyone complains constantly about how evil people are. How greedy, uncaring, etc. When they see someone doing what they always complain they DON'T do, all they can do is ridicule and stink eye.

Deja vu reading that?

a reply to: Kangaruex4Ewe

I personally still thing people (namely CEO's) who work for ?charities end up pocketing most of the donations!

a reply to: intrptr

Most people's names are printed on the check already, but regardless you HAVE to put your name on the check to make it legal...

a reply to: Kangaruex4Ewe

My kids love giving money to the Salvation army when the bells are ringing during the holidays... They truly do love it.

If they know we are going to a store that usually has someone standing outside, they won't leave the house without hitting up their piggy banks first.

I think it's very sweet and, reinforces to them the importance of giving to those in need.

a reply to: MagesticEsoteric

That is sweet. I think we should always teach our kids to be empathetic and charitable. It just makes them better people. Nobody likes people who who don't care about anyone other than themselves. Someone has to teach them before it is too late.

I'd say good job!!

People have anxieties at times, about giving to charities, because we hear of so much abuse. But the Salvation Army is one you typically don't have to worry about. That and Red Cross. You can see them on TV all over the world in catastrophe's serving food and helping the injured. You can see where their money goes.

Thanks for the story!

a reply to: Kangaruex4Ewe

You are right, that's why I go out of my way to make sure I don't raise kids that have no empathy for others.

I want them to appreciate what they have but, also know there are soooo many people in the world that have it tons worse than they have it.

They are both good kids with kind souls and I'm proud that they have caring hearts....it's what the world needs.

My hope is that they will pass this trait on to their kids and so on.......

originally posted by: intrptr
a reply to: Kangaruex4Ewe

So lemme get this straight… they wished to remain anonymous but wrote their name on the check.

I know, how dare me question such charity.

I have a checking account....my name is already on the checks, linked to the bank account that I opened.

That's how it works. I guess they could have gotten a money order but, it was their decision to write the check...perhaps for tax purposes.

And, if I read the article correctly, they were contacted by the SA but, asked that their names be left anonymous.

That is a true charitable person in my opinion.

a reply to: MagesticEsoteric

Dificult to say, this an anonymous contribution, not sure if its advertisement or not.

Treading lightly here.

I was a 'homeless' person for significant periods of my life. I have a different take on big charity from a somewhat rarer perspective.

For one, not once did they ever come to a homeless camp or up under a bridge or alongside the road and offer a single homeless person I ever knew anything. Not one penny. I wouldn't say that without knowing it firsthand.

And yet, I saw Salvation Army donation station trucks parked in parking lots everywhere, free of rent and tax exempt. If I parked my truck in a parking lot overnight, I was rousted and evicted by police and security. If I solicited donations from people at store fronts with a pot and bell, I would have been arrested.

Oh sure, I could join their army, for free, work for free, as indentured servant, but really, no thanks. Their army is a bunch of slaves for profit. Profit that is tax free, rent free, corporate owned, with CEOs, Limos and Lear jets.

Headquarters

Glad they gave the $ to the Salvation Army instead of the Red Crooks (aka Red Cross).