Two gold coins and a diamond ring are among the above-and-beyond donations the organization has received so far this year

Each year, the Salvation Army collects change during November and December to raise money for its campaign to help disadvantaged children at the holidays, but change isn’t the only thing that gets dropped into the organization’s signature red kettles: Jewelry and gold also make their way into the bins, and 2014 was a banner year for the trend.

Sparkly donations are continuing in 2015. A kettle outside a Market Basket grocery store in Billerica, Mass., was the recipient of the organization’s first reported diamond ring donation of 2015, reports CBS Boston. The ring was appraised at $3,500, according to the Salvation Army’s Capt. David Childs.

“It’s pretty heartwarming to know that somebody would give something of this value, something personal like that of themselves,” Childs said.

A kettle outside a Festival Foods in Bellevue, Wis., also got a surprise gift: a gold coin. The one-ounce South African Krugerrand has a mint date of 1977 and an estimated value of $1,050, according to USA Today. The donation marks the fifth consecutive year that a gold coin has been donated via a kettle in the area.

The Salvation Army in Mishawaka, Ind., has also received a gold coin for the past five years, reports WNDU, the local NBC affiliate. This year, the donation, also a Krugerrand, came wrapped in a $100 bill with a typed note that read, “A nation cannot kill its way to peace.” The Salvation Army sold the coin to a local coin shop for $1,074. 

(Screenshot courtesy of CBS Boston)

JCK