Red Kettle Karnival kicks off holiday giving season

The bells will be ringing soon.

Wednesday night, Bentleyville hosted the Duluth Salvation Army’s Red Kettle Karnival, a kickoff to the red kettle bell ringing season.

Coming off a pandemic year, Captain Teri Ellison said it will be comforting to get back to something normal.

"We’ve got 18 different sites. We’ve got a new one at Walgreens in West Duluth," she said.

Captain Bryan Ellison said despite the challenges 2020 brought, they exceeded their fundraising goal last year.

"We were concerned as many that we would end up having a hard time raising our goals and stuff, but it ended up going the other way. And part of that was Bentleyville. Bentleyville was just incredible last year," he said.

Kettles will be out in front of stores starting this Saturday, Nov. 13.

"It’s not just for our Christmas food and toy distribution. It’s for the whole 12 months. It makes up about 10% of our budget between the kettles and the mailings and just the general giving," Teri Ellison said.

And a volunteer standing by a kettle helps bring in more cash. Teri Ellison said even picking up one two-hour shift makes a difference.

You can sign up by visiting registertoring.com.

Bentleyville opens to the public Saturday, Nov. 20.