Donor drops $5,000 check in Salvation Army kettle in La Cañada

Found amid all the loose change and dollar bills dropped into a red Salvation Army kettle outside a grocery store in La Cañada Flintridge was a check for $5,000.

The check signed by a Glendale resident was discovered this month in a red kettle outside a Ralphs.

The donation came as a shock to Lt. Joshua Sneed, who oversees Salvation Army in Glendale. What caught him most off guard was the fact it wasn’t made by a repeat donor, but a first timer.

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He called the check a very “tangible gift,” pointing out the funds collected in the area stay local.

“It’s a great way to make a difference in your community,” Sneed said.

The local Salvation Army runs a food pantry that serves nearly 500 families a month and offers other services such as the Meals on Wheels programs for seniors.

The nonprofit has helped out Eagle Rock resident John Sheperd in the past, and in return, he’s been a bell ringer for the annual kettle campaign since the 1980s.

It was his collection of donations for the day where the $5,000 check was found.

“It came as quite a surprise. Usually when people write checks it ranges from $20 to $100, but never before that big,” Sheperd said of the woman’s donation.

And despite being vigilant to thank everyone who drops some change or a couple bucks into the kettle, he doesn’t know who the check donor was. The donor has not given permission to be identified.

Though $5,000 is a record for the local Salvation Army, a chapter in Minnesota made national headlines when a couple left a check for $500,000.

“Five thousand is still good, but I would have done black flips into the parking lot for half a million,” Sheperd said.

Christmas Eve is the last day of the annual Salvation Army Kettle Campaign. So far, according to Sheperd, more than $40,000 has been raised for the Glendale Salvation Army from about 20 area red kettles.

Arin Mikailian writes for Times Community News.

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