Donations Down Due To Recent Weather

The Salvation Army has received a red kettle surprise, but even with the golden donation, the charity is down for the season.  The News On 6's Ashli Sims reports the ice storm silenced the Salvation Army's bell ringers for several days. Now the ringing is back, but the donations are down.

Spreading a little Christmas cheer doesn't sound like hard work, until you mention doing it for 24 hours straight.

"Some people are just like yeah ok and some people are nice. I've only had two people stop and read the sign and say oh you guys are actually here for 24 hours," said Austin Plumlee.

Sixteen-year-olds Austin Plumlee and Caleb Reed are doing their part to raise money for the Salvation Army.

"We are so blessed to have hundreds of volunteers like these two young men who are giving of their time and energy and efforts to help make a difference," said Salvation Army's Brad Borror.

Brad Borror says a surprise donation will also make a difference.  A fat, shiny gold coin was slipped into a kettle in South Tulsa.  The Kruggerand is worth close to $800.

It's the fourth one dropped into a Salvation Army kettle in five years.

"It's truly an anonymous gift. We have no idea if it's the same person dropping these off or other people catching on and taking turns, but it's truly wonderful," said Borror.

Despite the big gift, the little red kettles are running a little light this year.

"Like everybody else we were hit pretty hard by the ice storm. We were down almost an entire week from manning our kettles. And from that we're down about $100,000 overall in lost kettle income," said Borror.

The charity is relying on its army of volunteers and the goodness in Tulsa to make up for the loss.

The marathon ringers are getting a little weary, but they're still reaching out to donors young and old.

The Salvation Army says the drop in donations won't affect their Christmas programs, but it will affect other things down the line, like their shelter which serves 300 people every night.