The numbers are eye-popping.
This past year, the Salvation Army Reading Corps helped more than 3,000 families pay their utility bills. It assisted more than 13,600 families buy groceries, served more than 5,000 at food pantries and provided permanent housing for 94 families.
They’re staggering statistics, but they don’t tell the whole story.
“These aren’t just numbers,” Capt. Hector Cid told a crowd gathered inside the Corps’ Reading Citadel on South Fifth Street on Tuesday morning.
Volunteer Daisy Porter of Womelsdorf, a Reading Hospital nutrition worker, gives out a turkey during the Salvation Army’s Red Kettle kickoff and Thanksgiving food distribution on Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2025. (BILL UHRICH/READING EAGLE)
Each of those numbers represent parents trying to provide for their children, grandparents choosing between food and medication or kids looking for a safe place to go after school, Cid said.
They represent people like a young mother who recently came to the Salvation Army looking for help, Cid said. She was facing eviction and was desperate to find a way to keep a roof over their heads.
The Salvation Army was able to connect the terrified mother with resources and work with her landlord to keep her in her apartment.
“There is a why behind why we do this,” Cid said of the nonprofit organization’s efforts.
Sydney Cochran of Reading, youth ministry coordinator, places a box of food on a conveyor at the Salvation Army’s Red Kettle kickoff and Thanksgiving food distribution at the Reading corps, 301 S. Fifth St., on Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2025. (BILL UHRICH/READING EAGLE)
To make those efforts possible, the Salvation Army needs funding. Which is why Tuesday was so important.
Cid spoke during a special ceremony to kick off the organization’s annual Red Kettle Campaign, the iconic fundraising effort that has become a hallmark of the holiday season since its creation in San Francisco in 1891.
This year, Cid said, the Reading Corps is aiming to raise $170,000 by Dec. 24.
“This is an ambitious goal, but it reflects the need we see every day,” he said.
Gloria Bradley, chair of the organization’s advisory board, said the campaign is an effort that means so much to so many.
“At the Salvation Army, every day lives are changed,” she said.
Those changes can come through youth programs for kids looking for safety or support, she said, or through providing food to parents when the cupboards at home are bare.
“These are not just programs, they are lifelines,” she said.
And, Bradley said, those lifelines are only possible to provide through the generosity of the community. She asked that as people pass by the Red Kettles they donate with love.
Capt. Hector Cid, city coordinator, leads local officials and guests in the ringing of kettle bells at the Salvation Army’s Red Kettle kickoff and Thanksgiving food distribution at the Reading corps, 301 S. Fifth St., on Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2025. (BILL UHRICH/READING EAGLE)
A love that sees a need and can’t turn away, she said, a love that believes every person, no matter their background, deserves compassion.
“I hope you hear the heartbeat of this county,” she said of the sound of volunteers ringing bells beside the kettles. “I hope you hear love calling out to each one of us. We’re not just filling kettles, we’re filling hearts.
“We want to make sure no one in our community feels alone this season, or in any season.”
Before Tuesday’s ceremony, that mindset was on full display.
Long before an official start time of 8 a.m., a line of about 50 people stretched down the sidewalk outside of the Salvation Army building. They waited patiently for a little help in making their Thanksgiving holiday a little bit brighter.
The organization — with help from Helping Harvest and Giant — handed out 1,000 large boxes of food. A few feet away volunteers from Reading Hospital passed out free turkeys provided by Tower Health.
“It’s just a blessing to work with the community and to make sure everybody is well-nourished for the holiday,” said Rachael Wehn, director of nutrition at Reading Hospital.
Wehn said that providing those in need with food is about more than filling bellies and creating smiles, it’s about community health.
“Food is part of health, food is health,” she said. “Food is life, it’s essential. We love feeding people.”
For more information on the Salvation Army Reading Corps and the Red Kettle Campaign visit easternusa.salvationarmy.org/eastern-pennsylvania/reading-pa.