Spirit of Giving

When you work for the Salvation Army, it’s easy to get into the holiday spirit. You’re surrounded by people who willingly work extra hours and spend their own money to help those who need it most this time of year. 

Although this is only my second Christmas with the Army, I’m constantly amazed at the generosity of others. 

I’ve been receiving endless amounts of phone calls from people wanting to donate anything from $25 to $2,500. 

There’s also an abundance of companies and groups wanting to do their part to help.  This list includes:

• ORU Students & Faculty – Donated 1,270 toys and canned foods through their 5th Annual Bring Good Cheer Toy Drive
• Jimmy’s Egg – Providing a warm breakfast for our bellringers later this month.
• QuikTrip – Donated hundreds of coupons for our bellringers to get a warm sandwich after spending several hours in the cold weather, ringing that bell.
• Panera – Donated bagels throughout November for our bellringers.
• Queenies – Donated muffins, fresh out of the oven, for our bellringers earlier this month.
• Mod’s Coffee & Crepes – For four consecutive Thursdays (November 29th, December 6th, 13th and 20th), Mod’s is donating 25% of its sales from 4pm-10pm to help get donations for our “forgotten angels.” These are angels on our angel trees that are either left on the tree, or not returned.
• JC Penney – When shoppers check out to pay for their gifts, they’re asked if they want to give their change to the Salvation Army to help with our programs.
• AAON and Tulsa Gold & Silver – Both companies are Matching Kettle sponsors. Aaon matched all kettle donations up to $5,000 on Saturday, December 8th. So far, December 8th has been our biggest return for donations – likely because of the kettle match. Tulsa Gold & Silver is taking it a step further, pledging to match up to $10,000 on Saturday, December 15th and $15,000 on Saturday, December 22nd.
• Dilly Deli, Tulsa Oilers, Merritt’s Bakery, Incredible Pizza, Regal Cars, Air Power Systems, 1stStarBank and Miss Jackson’s – All of these are having toy drives for the Salvation Army. This is greatly needed, considering we have 1,000 more angels on our angel tree.

This is just a few of the many, many acts of kindness shown to the Salvation Army this holiday season. We appreciate all of these people, group and businesses for showing what this season is really about by getting into the spirit of giving! 


--Carrie