Swiping kettles encouraged this holiday season

By Emily Kaiser in How We Live

Thu., Nov. 12 2009 @ 11:14AM

If you're out and about this holiday season and see those people ringing bells with their little pot of change, don't forget to swipe it.

No, really. The Salvation Army is asking you to.

Only if you have a credit card of course. har har. This year the Salvation Army is testing four credit card kettles in the Twin Cities in hopes of boosting donations. You'll see two at the Mall of America, one at Southdale, and one at Ridgedale.

The only problem with the new machines: They freeze up when the temp drops below 35 degrees. Best of luck to you folks. Freezing temps are just around the corner. They are going to try using charcoal handwarmers to keep them going.

Salvation Army picked the test spots because they are locations where people were less likely to have cash or change on them.