Ring, ring, ring.
Ka-ching!
Last week someone dropped a flawless half-carat diamond ring worth $2,000 into a Salvation Army kettle in Fayette County, Pa.
A thief ditching a hot piece of jewelry? An engaged woman with a finger a size too small? An anonymous donor with a heart of white gold?
Capt. Christopher Blessing, commanding officer of the organization's Uniontown Worship and Service Center, would prefer to believe the latter explanation.
"It just proves that in times of struggle there are still angels at work," Blessing said. "That's all we can identify this person as, as an angel in disguise, and they're not seeking fame or fortune because they're doing it anonymously. We're humbled and blessed by this gift."
If no one claims the solitaire diamond, which is set in an 18-karat white gold band, the Salvation Army will sell it.
Any proceeds would probably be less than the appraised retail value. Nevertheless, it would still be a big drop in the bucket for the group's Uniontown Worship and Service Center's $70,000 donation target this season.
No one knows who dropped the ring in the red plastic kettle at the Giant Eagle in North Union on Nov. 22. If history is any guide, the Salvation Army will never find out.
For decades, people have been swelling the Salvation Army's coffers with more than just the standard coin of the realm. In addition to pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters and the occasional wad of $100 bills, donors have deposited American Eagle gold coins, gold Krugerrands, French francs and checks.
Kettles in York, Pa., have swallowed gold teeth -- a pair of golden molars, to be precise.
Maj. George E. Hood, the Salvation Army's national communications secretary, recalled that professional hockey fans filing into Nassau Coliseum in the 1980s for New York Islanders games would drop extra tickets in the kettles. They were given out to Salvation Army band members who played before the games.
There's also the down side of collecting. Workers have found their fair share of lint, jellybeans, bolts, popcorn and complaint letters.
"You never know when you open that kettle up at the end of the day what might come out," Hood said.
Jonathan D. Silver can be reached at jsilver(at)post-gazette.com. For more stories visit scrippsnews.com
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