As Fox Business’s Lauren Simonetti began her segment on Giving Tuesday, the familiar sight of dancing by the Red Kettle in Manhattan greeted her viewers. “This year is more important than ever,” National Commander Commissioner Kenneth Hodder told Simonetti. “We’ve seen a double-digit percentage increase in the number of homeless here in this country. We also have an increased number of natural disasters, and one in three adults reports of their struggling financially so the need is greater.” Such was the message on Giving Tuesday, December 3, 2024, as Commissioners Hodder and The Salvation Army’s partners communicated about these profound needs through a nationwide media blitz, featuring Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders (DCC), TV personalities, movie stars and no shortage of dancing.

Since it began as a hashtag in 2012, Giving Tuesday, the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, has become one of the biggest fundraising days of the year for charitable organizations like The Salvation Army. The 2024 Red Kettle season was shortened because of the fewer number of days between Thanksgiving and Christmas, making opportunities to inform the American public of growing needs even more critical. This crucial message inspired a frenzy of Giving Tuesday activities.

Early in the morning, DCC team members and DCC Director Kelli Finglass joined hosts Hoda Kotb and Savannah Guthrie on the “Today Show” at Rockefeller Center. The team members performed the viral “Red Kettle Ringing” dance seen on TikTok. Finglass highlighted the Red Kettle Kickoff Halftime Show the week before and the opportunity for everyone, Dallas Cowboys fan or not, to help others by helping The Salvation Army. “[The] Salvation Army helps all fans … everybody can donate to red kettles across the country and help people that need help right now.” 

Just down the road, Commissioner Kenneth Hodder and HGTV’s Ben and Erin Napier, hosts of the TV show “Home Town,” joined Steve Ducey on “Fox and Friends” with one of their Season of Hope candles. Designed to smell like the homemade orange pomanders that filled Erin’s childhood at Christmas, the candle was created to raise awareness about The Salvation Army’s work. The candle also reflects the Napiers’ nostalgia for the Red Kettle and the bell, holiday hallmarks they grew up seeing and have now introduced to their children. “It’s such a part of our growing up, for Erin and me … as a kid it was our first chance at charity, at giving … [now] it’s our daughter’s favorite thing,” said Ben.

While Giving Tuesday serves as the focal point for fundraising the week after Thanksgiving, much happens in the surrounding days, too. The day before, Commissioner Kenneth Hodder joined 21 radio shows for interviews, some in large media markets like Phoenix or Detroit, and others on national shows like “The Joy of Living with Barry Shore”. Actors, producers and social media influencers Carlos and Alexa PenaVega spoke alongside Commissioner Hodder on many programs, echoing the call for support and sharing their experiences of Salvation Army emergency disaster service following Hurricane Helene. 

The PenaVegas recently produced and starred in the new romantic comedy “Get Him Back for Christmas” (Great American Pure Flix), which tells the story of a singer falling in love with a Salvation Army employee. Speaking to “Variety”, Carlos described their desire behind the film, “We feel fortunate to have worked with The Salvation Army for a number of years, and we look forward to representing the authentic goodness behind the brand and mission.” Following their radio spots, the PenaVegas and Commissioners Kenneth and Jolene Hodder participated in the Red Kettle Kickoff for the Greater New York Division at the Empire State Building, which was lit in red and white in recognition of The Salvation Army’s service. 

Later that evening, the PenaVegas appeared on Fox Weather channel. Alexa remarked about the holistic breadth of services offered, “The Salvation Army shows up … whatever need is out there, they have a program for it.” Reflecting on his experience of an EDS deployment, Carlos shared, “[The] Salvation Army changed my life. Going and seeing what they do after these crazy disasters and for seeing the love that they have for people really changed my heart. I told myself, ‘I thought I was doing enough, but I’m not. I’ve got to do more.’” 

That desire “to do more” manifest in another Giving Tuesday engagement as the PenaVegas took to the streets of Manhattan to produce testimonial videos with donors at kettle locations. While dancing alongside bellringers outside Saks Fifth Avenue, they asked a woman making a donation if she had a Salvation Army story she’d like to share. “The Salvation Army saved my marriage,” she said, referring to her husband’s time in an Adult Rehabilitation Center. As thousands of bellringers took to Red Kettles across the country, many more thousands of donors did also — many carrying with them similar stories of how God used The Salvation Army to make a profound difference in their lives. In view of that transformative work and more to come, dancing by the Red Kettle would seem entirely appropriate.