The Golden Kettle Memorializes Community's Loved Ones through 2024
February is the perfect month for The Salvation Army to gather information from families of loved ones named on the Inaugural Golden Kettle Legacy Memorial. Our service this year is whole heartedly dedicated to the names memorialized on the Golden Kettle.
"It is a privilege to serve this community and an honor to serve in memory of the special people who've shaped our community's kind heart," Corps Officer Captain Christina Champlin shares.
Fond du Lac's Salvation Army chose to turn the color of it's iconic floor length kettles from red to gold for the second year during the December portion of the Christmas Campaign, an homage to the powerful community kindness that fuels innovations in service. The Osborn Family added a new layer of recognition when they established The Golden Kettle Legacy Memorial in memory of Charley Osborn and Samantha (Osborn) Richardson, two siblings killed in a 2022 automobile accident. "We know Christmas is especially tough for those who have empty chairs at the table and we hoped families would feel the compassion of our family and The Salvation Army circling around them when they see the golden kettles," Sandy Osborn shared.
Members of The Salvation Army's Fond du Lac County service area were invited to join with Corps staff, ad board and volunteers & submit names of those whose kindnesses left an impression on the community.
A beautiful list of big heart hearts makes up this inaugural memorial & personally notifying family members their loved one lives on through the non profit's myriad of services is a joyful experience, one that is ongoing. A full list of Golden Kettle Legacy Memorial members will be posted as soon as personal contact has been made with family members.
The Salvation Army has long been known for its year round pantry, coat distribution in the Fall, the county's largest Christmas distribution in the winter and for delivering the first free summer cold program, school supply distribution, and collaborating to launch Samaritan Free Health Clinic.
In that same spirit of innovation, 2024 COMBINES long standing programs our county counts on The Salvation Army of Fond du Lac for WITH A NEW WAY of tackling issues keeping us all up at night:
- the circumstances that put neighbors out of their homes at an alarming rate,
- the effort put into temporary shelters that are never enough to hold everyone,
- the addiction epidemic, & the mental, emotional, physical and spiritual toll this takes on us as a caring community.
- THE COST.
Service agencies have programs – and collaborative relationships - in place. The issues we’re facing have simply outgrown the resources these programs yield.
The Salvation Army of Fond du Lac sees way to get in front of the number of evictions that lead to homelessness. A new perspective for households caught between a financial, mental and emotional rock and a hard place. A new hope for those who want to believe addiction isn’t the only way to cope with life circumstances.
Delivering FDL's FIRST housing retention program & a portal to addiction recovery offers bold answers to ongoing community issues. These are new endgame strategies, & not band aids meant to sustain crisis.
When fully funded and boldly executed, each golden opportunity elevates how our neighbors live & re defines “Doing the Most Good”:
- Delivering a $1.6 million economic impact* to taxpayers for every 12 households served;
- Implementing a fresh approach to address the supportive service impact** our City & county have been working toward for decades (per The FDL County 2022-2026 Consolidated Plan & 2022 Annual Action Plan).
Captain Christina finishes, "2024 is the year of THE CHANGE REACTION. #fdlgoldenkettles shines bright with #LoveBeyond anything possible up to this point. All because you believe as we, that "impossible" means "I'm possible."
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