Hoping to get red kettle gifts back on track, Bellingham man gives silver and diamond
One good deed has inspired another.
R.B. Wick, owner of the Bellingham Coin Shop, felt moved to donate to The Salvation Army’s annual red kettle campaign after reading a recent story in The Bellingham Herald about someone dropping a gold coin valued at $750 into the kettle at the Fred Meyer on West Bakerview Road, Capt. Ruairi Ward told The Bellingham Herald.
“It was very generous,” Ward said.
Ward and wife Sarah are the commanding officers for The Salvation Army in Whatcom County.
On Saturday, Dec. 21, Wick stopped at three stores in Bellingham where there were red kettles and dropped in:
▪ A woman’s diamond ring appraised at $9,500, at the Barkley Haggen.
▪ Thirty-five silver dollars, from 1880 to 1925, valued at about $1,000, at the Fred Meyer at West Bakerview Road. (This is where the gold coin was donated last week by an unidentified donor.)
▪ A 10-ounce silver bar worth an estimated $175, at the Safeway on Sunset Drive.
With each donation, Wick left a card signed with the same message: “All of us who are fortunate enough to not want/need should give and ask others to give in place of our gifts.”
Wick also indicated he was giving back because his father had been helped by The Salvation Army in the 1950s a number of times, Ward said.
“I told R.B. that I was moved to tears by his generosity and grateful that The Salvation Army could help his family in time of need,” Ward said.
Wick is known for creating treasure hunts in which he hides gold and silver coins around Bellingham.
He hoped his gift would help The Salvation Army’s annual fundraising effort get back on track, he told The Bellingham Herald.
“This might a good thing to get them some attention,” Wick said.
“It’s important for me to help those types of organizations out that do a lot more than what we see,” he added.
Last week, Ward said donations were about 30% behind last year, attributing that to a shorter holiday shopping season for 2019.
There are six fewer days to shop this year.
Fewer days mean fewer chances for people to drop money into The Salvation Army’s roughly 27 red kettles around Bellingham.
Donations from the red kettles campaign help provide services locally, including for food, shelter, addiction recovery, domestic violence help, youth programs and emergency disaster relief.
Wick hopes the inspired giving continues.
“I hope that the community continues to realize that everybody can make a difference, whether it’s a $1 donation or a $10,000 donation,” he said.
This story was originally published December 23, 2019 at 2:12 PM.
