December 10, 2025 • 7 mins
THE SALVATION ARMY'S RED KETTLE DRIVE IS UNDERWAY And I've got a rep on today to talk about the Red Kettle Drive, their partnership with the Food Bank of the Rockies and more. If you want to know what the Salvation Army is all about, click here.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
You have seen some wonderful volunteer outside ringing the bell
for the Red Cattle Campaign for the Salvation Army. And
joining us now to talk about that and more is
Major Nurse and Kiston. He is the Divisional Commander of
the inter Mountain Division of the Salvation Army based in Denver.
First of all, Major Kiston, welcome to the.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Show, Mandy, what a pleasure to be on your show.
I'm so glad that we get to talk.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
Well, I am too. I have to start by asking
you where your accent is from.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Well, maybe it's from the South, I say to my friends,
but it's far south, and people realize.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
I'm going to go to this, Oh Australia. Excellent, excellent. Well,
we're glad you're here in Denver, and we're glad that
the Salvation Army is doing what they do. Let's talk
for a minute about the Red Cattle Campaign if we could.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
What do you what.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
Exactly are you guys? This is probably is it the
biggest fundraiser of the year for you?
Speaker 2 (00:54):
It is? It's probably one of our biggest fundraisers. And
the red kettles are so iconic to families. They will
see it, they will hear the sounds of the bells ringing,
and they will see as you just described, enjoy introduction
some great volunteers standing at our kettle's bringing Christmas ship,
but also reminding people that they need their support to
(01:17):
help others. A lot of.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
People, I think don't quite understand the breadth of the
services that are offered by the Salvation Army. You guys
help a lot of people every single year.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
Oh, Mandy, you are so right in what you're saying.
The Salvation Army is just in Denver alone, serves literally
hundreds of thousands of people which knife of shelter. We're
helping them with food and security, helping families with children
without the school support. There is so much that we do.
(01:53):
Our addiction treatment centers, women's refuge women who are coming
out of incarcerations, support teams. The breath is enormous, Mandy,
it is enormous.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
You guys also have a great partnership with Food Bank
of the Rockies. What does that look like? We do?
Speaker 2 (02:10):
We do, We have a great partnership. Well, you know,
food and security is a major issue for all of us,
and one of the fundamental challenges that every American needs
is to have the security and stability to know that
there will be a meal available to them, and so
we use our partners with the Food Bank of the
Rockies in order to ensure that every family gets accessibility
(02:33):
to food. No child should be hungry going to school,
No family should be wondering where their next meal is
coming from. We do live in the best country in
the world, America, and so we in partnership ensure that
most of our families just have the confidence to know
that they basically need to being met.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
And you guys are swinging big this year with hope
served here. Tell me about Christmas Dinner that you're doing
this year for just a few people, a handful.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
I hope you and your family can join us. We're hoping,
you know, one of the major challenges we face in
society is not just homelessness or food insecurity. So many
people face loneliness. And we're providing a community dinner where
every single person will be welcome to sit at my table.
(03:22):
It's going to be a banquet table like nothing else.
We're hoping hoping to serve thousands of people at the
Colorado Convention Center on December twenty first, from four pm
to six PM. Everyone's welcome. We're gonna have balloon sculptures,
were sculpturers, We're gonna have face painting. There's going to
be a multitude of entertainment. We're gonna even have our
(03:46):
last band play Christmas carols. So we want people to
feel the Christmas spirit and the Christmas Chair is available
for all of them, irrespective of their current circumstances and
current challenges.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
So how do you have to sign up for that?
Is that I just show up at the Colorado Convention
Center on Sunday, December twenty first at four or or
how do people get involved with that?
Speaker 2 (04:09):
Well, there's a multitude of ways. So basically you can
just show up. If you don't sign up and you
forget to sign up, or you've run out of tune
or whatever the issue may be, just turn up. There
will be a meal available for you. But if you
want to be a little bit more organized, which will
help us immensely, Denver Metro Salvation Army, just google it
(04:30):
Denver Metro Salvation Army dot org. There will be opportunity
for you to hit the sign up button, or there's
a donate button if you want to support us that way,
you can do so if you want to provide a
toy for a child, you know what our motto this
Christmas is that no child should wake up on Christmas
(04:51):
Morning without a present sitting at the tree waiting for them.
And so we have multitude of ways where people can
and engage, can connect. They can even turn up as
a volunteer. If you want to volunteer with your kids
and show them how to give and support others in need,
then that opportunity is also available for you.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
I wanted to ask specifically because occasionally people will reach
out to me and I did not have the answer
to this. A lot of people would love to participate
with the Angel Tree program. How do they do that locally?
Is there a place that they can go and get
a toy or is that all on the website or
what does that look like.
Speaker 2 (05:29):
It's absolutely still on the website. You can get a toy,
or you can go to your local Salvation Army and
you can just tip up, you know, whatever your zip
code is, The Salvation Army is there and you can
get an Angel tag and say, you know what, I
want to be really intentional, I want to buy a
toy for this particular family. They may have three kids,
a boy, two girls, seven, nine, and ten, and they
(05:52):
can buy specific gifts for that family and someone will
know that there's a family just not so dissimilar themselves
that has purchased the toy just for them.
Speaker 1 (06:04):
So can I do that at that at a thrift
store in my area? Or do I need to go
to a community center? Where do I do that?
Speaker 2 (06:11):
Anywhere that the Salvation Army shield is on. Okay, you
can turn up and say I want to help a
family with the angle tray and so there we'll be
able to point them in the right direction. Or we
find that a lot of people love jumping on the website,
and the website devera Metro Salvation Army is easy to
find and it will give you plenty of specific instructions
(06:34):
and details, so you can do that. But every where
you see a Salvation Army shield, go and say I
want to help someone this Christmas with a toy or
with a gift or something, and will happily point in
the right direction.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
Major Nurse and Kiston, I appreciate all you do for
the Salvation Army. What do you want to leave our
audience with today about the Salvation Army well, listen, I.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
Want to say this to every one of your listeners. Mandy,
the Salvation Army wants to wish him a very merry
Christmas and may the peace and love of Christ be
days today. And we just want to say Americans are
so so generous. Thank you for supporting the work of
the Salvation ARMI. We really appreciate your partnership and without you,
(07:16):
we can't help our friends in.
Speaker 1 (07:17):
Need major nursing Kiston. Thank you so much for your
time today.
Speaker 2 (07:22):
God bless you, Mandy.
Speaker 1 (07:23):
Merry Christmas to you, Merry Christmas to you, Sir,
You have seen some wonderful volunteer outside ringing the bell
for the Red Cattle Campaign for the Salvation Army. And
joining us now to talk about that and more is
Major Nurse and Kiston. He is the Divisional Commander of
the inter Mountain Division of the Salvation Army based in Denver.
First of all, Major Kiston, welcome to the.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Show, Mandy, what a pleasure to be on your show.
I'm so glad that we get to talk.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
Well, I am too. I have to start by asking
you where your accent is from.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Well, maybe it's from the South, I say to my friends,
but it's far south, and people realize.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
I'm going to go to this, Oh Australia. Excellent, excellent. Well,
we're glad you're here in Denver, and we're glad that
the Salvation Army is doing what they do. Let's talk
for a minute about the Red Cattle Campaign if we could.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
What do you what.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
Exactly are you guys? This is probably is it the
biggest fundraiser of the year for you?
Speaker 2 (00:54):
It is? It's probably one of our biggest fundraisers. And
the red kettles are so iconic to families. They will
see it, they will hear the sounds of the bells ringing,
and they will see as you just described, enjoy introduction
some great volunteers standing at our kettle's bringing Christmas ship,
but also reminding people that they need their support to
(01:17):
help others. A lot of.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
People, I think don't quite understand the breadth of the
services that are offered by the Salvation Army. You guys
help a lot of people every single year.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
Oh, Mandy, you are so right in what you're saying.
The Salvation Army is just in Denver alone, serves literally
hundreds of thousands of people which knife of shelter. We're
helping them with food and security, helping families with children
without the school support. There is so much that we do.
(01:53):
Our addiction treatment centers, women's refuge women who are coming
out of incarcerations, support teams. The breath is enormous, Mandy,
it is enormous.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
You guys also have a great partnership with Food Bank
of the Rockies. What does that look like? We do?
Speaker 2 (02:10):
We do, We have a great partnership. Well, you know,
food and security is a major issue for all of us,
and one of the fundamental challenges that every American needs
is to have the security and stability to know that
there will be a meal available to them, and so
we use our partners with the Food Bank of the
Rockies in order to ensure that every family gets accessibility
(02:33):
to food. No child should be hungry going to school,
No family should be wondering where their next meal is
coming from. We do live in the best country in
the world, America, and so we in partnership ensure that
most of our families just have the confidence to know
that they basically need to being met.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
And you guys are swinging big this year with hope
served here. Tell me about Christmas Dinner that you're doing
this year for just a few people, a handful.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
I hope you and your family can join us. We're hoping,
you know, one of the major challenges we face in
society is not just homelessness or food insecurity. So many
people face loneliness. And we're providing a community dinner where
every single person will be welcome to sit at my table.
(03:22):
It's going to be a banquet table like nothing else.
We're hoping hoping to serve thousands of people at the
Colorado Convention Center on December twenty first, from four pm
to six PM. Everyone's welcome. We're gonna have balloon sculptures,
were sculpturers, We're gonna have face painting. There's going to
be a multitude of entertainment. We're gonna even have our
(03:46):
last band play Christmas carols. So we want people to
feel the Christmas spirit and the Christmas Chair is available
for all of them, irrespective of their current circumstances and
current challenges.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
So how do you have to sign up for that?
Is that I just show up at the Colorado Convention
Center on Sunday, December twenty first at four or or
how do people get involved with that?
Speaker 2 (04:09):
Well, there's a multitude of ways. So basically you can
just show up. If you don't sign up and you
forget to sign up, or you've run out of tune
or whatever the issue may be, just turn up. There
will be a meal available for you. But if you
want to be a little bit more organized, which will
help us immensely, Denver Metro Salvation Army, just google it
(04:30):
Denver Metro Salvation Army dot org. There will be opportunity
for you to hit the sign up button, or there's
a donate button if you want to support us that way,
you can do so if you want to provide a
toy for a child, you know what our motto this
Christmas is that no child should wake up on Christmas
(04:51):
Morning without a present sitting at the tree waiting for them.
And so we have multitude of ways where people can
and engage, can connect. They can even turn up as
a volunteer. If you want to volunteer with your kids
and show them how to give and support others in need,
then that opportunity is also available for you.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
I wanted to ask specifically because occasionally people will reach
out to me and I did not have the answer
to this. A lot of people would love to participate
with the Angel Tree program. How do they do that locally?
Is there a place that they can go and get
a toy or is that all on the website or
what does that look like.
Speaker 2 (05:29):
It's absolutely still on the website. You can get a toy,
or you can go to your local Salvation Army and
you can just tip up, you know, whatever your zip
code is, The Salvation Army is there and you can
get an Angel tag and say, you know what, I
want to be really intentional, I want to buy a
toy for this particular family. They may have three kids,
a boy, two girls, seven, nine, and ten, and they
(05:52):
can buy specific gifts for that family and someone will
know that there's a family just not so dissimilar themselves
that has purchased the toy just for them.
Speaker 1 (06:04):
So can I do that at that at a thrift
store in my area? Or do I need to go
to a community center? Where do I do that?
Speaker 2 (06:11):
Anywhere that the Salvation Army shield is on. Okay, you
can turn up and say I want to help a
family with the angle tray and so there we'll be
able to point them in the right direction. Or we
find that a lot of people love jumping on the website,
and the website devera Metro Salvation Army is easy to
find and it will give you plenty of specific instructions
(06:34):
and details, so you can do that. But every where
you see a Salvation Army shield, go and say I
want to help someone this Christmas with a toy or
with a gift or something, and will happily point in
the right direction.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
Major Nurse and Kiston, I appreciate all you do for
the Salvation Army. What do you want to leave our
audience with today about the Salvation Army well, listen, I.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
Want to say this to every one of your listeners. Mandy,
the Salvation Army wants to wish him a very merry
Christmas and may the peace and love of Christ be
days today. And we just want to say Americans are
so so generous. Thank you for supporting the work of
the Salvation ARMI. We really appreciate your partnership and without you,
(07:16):
we can't help our friends in.
Speaker 1 (07:17):
Need major nursing Kiston. Thank you so much for your
time today.
Speaker 2 (07:22):
God bless you, Mandy.
Speaker 1 (07:23):
Merry Christmas to you, Merry Christmas to you, Sir,
The Mandy Connell Podcast News
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