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Marvin knows that he was not the sort of person that could be trusted. He had an incredibly dark past. For 30 years he was a drug dealer, an addict and worse. He would stay high for days at a time and was often in trouble with the law. Still, during a time of incarceration, he knew that something had to change.

Now a medical doctor with a successful practice, David doesn’t actually remember the first time The Salvation Army impacted his life and the lives of his three older brothers. His mother recalls that when David was just eight months old, some people from The Salvation Army adopted their family for Christmas. Already struggling to make ends meet, life became even more difficult for David’s family when his father passed away a short time later. For many families, such significant challenges are simply impossible to overcome.

For most of his life, Jim just wanted to make a difference in the world. As a child, Jim’s parents took time to explain how giving to The Salvation Army’s Red Kettles meant that people who needed help the most would receive it. Every Christmas season he would remember these lessons and was sure to put money in the kettles when he could. The need was brought closer to home when his brother became homeless and required help from The Salvation Army to get back on his feet.

Throughout this year we met some of the people who were incredibly willing to give back. Marvin turned from a life of selling drugs to mentoring young people within The Salvation Army. Melani's addictions took everything from her until she was able to get back on her feet. Now she works helping provide assistance to other's who were in situations much like her's. Naomi is a high school student who has worked at summer camps operated by The Salvation Army and helped her church find and sponsor a child living overseas.

Like most parents, April’s one wish for the holidays was to be able to provide for her children – warm food on the table and a few presents under the tree. Many of us take this for granted. Finding herself without a home during the holidays, however, April realized that it would take a Christmas miracle for her wish to come true.

The origin of The Salvation Army red kettle.

At eight years of age, Dontae and his mother were homeless and living at a local shelter. Despite their circumstances, Dontae’s mother tried to remain positive and do what she could to help her son excel. Like any mother, she wanted the absolute best for her child.

On Sunday, Joey Logano, current points leader in the Sprint Cup, was taking the checkered flag at the Charlotte Motor Speedway. Today, he was in Columbia, SC surveying the devastation related to the recent flooding there.

The Salvation Army has been busy serving thousands of disaster survivors and first responders throughout flood ravaged areas of South Carolina. At the peak of relief service 20 mobile feeding teams and employees and volunteers from every division in the Southern Territory were serving in areas devastated by the natural disaster.

There was a man who rode to The Salvation Army canteen in the pouring rain on his scooter to pick up food for his family. He was wearing a jump suit with a reflective vest on and plastic grocery bags over his shoes I spoke to him as he picked up boxes of food and he never stopped smiling. We walked back to his scooter together—before his left he called home to let them know he was on his way back home.