Donor drops gold coin in red kettle in Zelie
A mystery donor has deposited a gold Krugerrand coin in a Salvation Army kettle in Zelienople for the seventh year in a row.
The South African coin was dropped in a kettle in front of a Zelienople business Nov. 25.
Rosaleen Poloso, a service unit representative for Butler County for the Western Pennsylvania Division of the Salvation Army, said, “It was wrapped in a dollar bill like it always is, so no one knows they are getting it until they count the money.”
Tim Greenlund of Harmony, chairman of the local advisory board for the kettle campaign, said the Krugerrand was sold Tuesday to a business for $1,760.
The coin had been appraised at being worth anywhere from $1,700 to $1,750, he said.
The Krugerrand donation “can show up anytime between the beginning of the campaign and the middle of December,” Greenlund said. “We have no idea who it is, it's just a generous community member.”
Poloso said, “It is anonymous. I wish I knew. We would give them a big thanks.”
Butler County service unit was one of the best for red kettle contributions, according to Poloso.
“It's just a great community that comes together when help is needed,” she said.
“Sometimes, we get jewelry,” Poloso said. “We will have that appraised and we keep it for a couple of months, just in case it was deposited by accident.”
No gold coins or jewelry have been dropped in kettles in the eight locations used by the Butler Salvation Army in its bell-ringing campaign, said Capt. Darlene Means, one of the pastors of the Butler Salvation Arm. But donations are coming in.“We are a little more than 50% to our goal (of $80,000),” Means said Wednesday.Additional COVID-19 protocols such as bell-ringers wearing masks and staying 6 feet from the kettles and a reported coin shortage hasn't hampered collection efforts, she said.“There hasn't been any problems. Our workers are following the protocols,” Means said. “We are not getting a lot of coins, but we are getting more bills now, that's true.”Bell ringers are out from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. since the start of the campaign Nov. 13 and will continue up to noon Dec. 24.She said the Salvation Army has added more ways for people to donate this year.Each kettle stand comes with a sign with a QR code. Donors can scan the code with their phones and make a donation via Google Pay (G Pay) or Apple Pay.Donors also have the option of texting “BUTLERSA” to 7177 or visiting the website salvationarmywpa.org/butler.Means stressed all money raised by the Butler Salvation Army kettle campaign stays in Butler County.“It's used to help pay for utilities, feeding programs, rental and keeping the lights on in this building,” she said, adding it's the Salvation Army's major fundraising effort for the year. “There's a very good chance of making our goal, unless we get a big snow storm or something,” Means said.
