They come out onto the streets every year around Christmas time.
They are dressed in army-style uniforms, and they carry a bell and a red kettle.
People walking by often stop and put money into their kettles.
Who are these people with the red kettles? And why do people give them money?
They are members of the Salvation Army, which is a group of Christians who serve God by helping the poor.
Over one hundred years ago, William Booth, a Christian minister in London, England,
organized a small church group to help feed and provide housing for the poor.
As more and more people joined his group, William Booth decided to organize his church like an army.
Booth became the general of the army, and his ministers became the officers.
But unlike other armies that fight and kill people, Booth's army fought for God and the poor.
Many people were attracted to Booth's church because it was not very formal.
In Booth's church, people sang joyful songs, played instruments, and clapped their hands.
At his church, praising God was fun.
Also all people were treated equally and fairly in the Salvation Army.
It didn't matter if you were rich or poor, a man or a woman.
Catherine Booth, William Booth's wife, was also very involved in her husband's church.
She believed that women and men were equal in every way.
So in their church, the female members and the male members were all treated the same.
Many women were able to become officers in the Salvation Army.
Many Christians began to join the Salvation Army.
Soon the church services were full, and the Army was able to help the poor in great ways.
Before long, members of the Salvation Army started to spread out around the world.
Some officers went to Australia and others to America.
It was in America that one of these officers began the tradition of the Christmas kettle.
In 1891 Captain Joseph McFee decided that he wanted to provide a free Christmas dinner for the poor people in San Francisco.
However, he didn't have enough money to pay for it.
He spent several days thinking about how he was going to raise enough money for his dinner.
Then he came up with a great idea.
He remembered back to when he lived in Liverpool, England.
People in that city had a large pot that they put money into for the poor.
So the next day he got permission to set up a similar pot near the docks where the San Francisco ferry came in.
As people got on and off the ferry, they saw his pot and read a sign asking for donations.
He also put a smaller pot, called an urn, in the ferry waiting room.
It was a wonderful success. Captain McFee gathered enough money that Christmas to provide the poor people in San Francisco with a good Christmas dinner.
By 1895 the idea of Christmas kettles spread all across the west coast of the United States.
Soon the Salvation Army was preparing over thirty large Christmas dinners for thousands of poor people.
Then in 1897 a young officer named William McIntyre, who had helped Captain McFee start the Christmas kettle donations,
was sent to the east coast of the United States.
He wanted to bring the Christmas kettle tradition with him.
However, when he arrived in Boston, the other officers thought it was a strange idea and refused to help him.
But the poor people in Boston were very lucky because McIntyre didn't listen to the other officers.
McIntyre, his wife, and his sister went onto the streets of Boston with their kettles and began to raise money for a Christmas dinner for the poor.
That year over 150,000 poor people across the United States received a good Christmas dinner.
Over a hundred years later, the tradition of the Salvation Army Christmas dinner is stronger than ever.
The kettles are now used all over the world to help make Christmas better for unfortunate people.
In addition to helping the poor, the Salvation Army also provides dinners for elderly people without families,
sick people in hospitals, and even prisoners in jail.
Providing dinners for those who need them is not the only way the Salvation Army helps others.
In over eighty countries throughout the world, the people of the Salvation Army operate hospitals, schools, and homeless shelters.
They truly are God's soldiers.
These days their Christmas kettles look very different from the old pot that McFee used in San Francisco.
Some have fancy self-ringing bells, and others have speakers to play traditional Christmas carols.
However, they still announce the same message that "sharing is caring."