'St. Grand' strikes again, dropping $1,000 in cash into a Salvation Army red kettle

The mysterious St. Grand is back, once again pleasantly surprising the Salvation Army with $1,000 in cash dropped into one of the nonprofit's red kettles this week.

The secretive philanthropist, who is continuing a 12-year streak of generosity, has been dubbed "St. Grand" by Salvation Army officials because he or she gives $1,000 in crisp new $100 bills, bundled the same way and dropped in a red kettle, often in the north metro area.

This may be just the start. In recent years, St. Grand has made several red kettle deposits during the holiday season of amounts starting at $1,000 and going as high as $1,500. Officials say St. Grand has given the Twin Cities Salvation Army more than $150,000 over the past decade.

"St. Grand is always a bright spot during our kettle season, for which we're very grateful," Dan Jennings, commander of the Salvation Army's Northern Division that includes Minnesota and North Dakota, said in a statement.

The donation comes as the organization finds itself about $250,000 short of its goal to raise $2 million by Christmas from spare cash and change dropped into 300 red kettles placed outside stores across the Twin Cities.

It's part of the Salvation Army's broader year-end goal to raise $12.5 million for its programs, the highest goal the nonprofit has ever set for its annual fundraiser.

The Roseville-based nonprofit, which is one of the largest social service nonprofits in Minnesota, is hoping to boost donations to meet rising costs due to inflation and a growing number of Minnesotans in need of housing and food help. To donate or for more details on the organization, go to salvationarmynorth.org/.