CONWAY - Three anonymous gifts of gold to the Salvation Army boosted Red Kettle Campaign donations in the Conway area during the Christmas season, but not enough to raise the total to 2012’s level.

A good Samaritan dropped a 1-ounce Krugerrand, a South African gold coin, into a kettle outside the Wal-Mart store on Skyline Drive, or U.S. 65., in Conway on Dec. 9. Later that week, someone placed a triangular, 1-ounce gold bullion in a kettle, this time outside the J.C. Penney store along U.S. 65. Then, someone gave another 1-ounce gold nugget to the organization via a kettle outside the same Wal-Mart store where the Krugerrand was found.

Together, the three pieces of gold were worth more than $3,000. The price of gold can vary daily.

The Salvation Army sold the gold through silent-bid auctions and ultimately got a total of $5,135 for them, Capt. David Robinson said Monday.

Robinson, a minister who with his wife runs the Conway-based organization, said kettle donations of just more than $96,000 this Christmas season “were down about $23,000 from” the previous season.

The Salvation Army normally sets up its kettles the day after Thanksgiving and continues with them through Christmas Eve.

“We had five fewer days because of the calendar” this season, Robinson said. “When you’re figuring a little more than $4,000 a day in kettle income … there’s a $20,000 difference right there. Then we had two more days we got iced out.”

The donations of gold became a dual blessing. In addition to selling for so much, they also drew more attention to the kettles and, as a result, more money from other people.

“After the Krugerrand dropped, we were in the media … the story was getting told,” Robinson said. “It stirred up a lot of interest in people passing by the kettles. People were asking the bell ringers, ‘Have you seen anyone drop anything [special] in?’”

The result: The daily average of money placed in the kettles rose about $600 or $700 a day after the first coin’s donation, he said.

The silent auctions ended with the Krugerrand going for $2,500, one of the other gold pieces selling for $1,500 and the other one for $1,135, Robinson said.

The total amount raised nationwide through the 2013 Red Kettle Campaign won’t be available until later this month, said Maj. Ron Busroe, community relations and development secretary for The Salvation Army’s national headquarters.

“As for the golden gifts, The Salvation Army has received about 40 gold-coin donations in years past - but we cannot yet confirm how many were received” in 2013, Busroe said in an email Monday.

The Conway-based organization serves Faulkner, Perry and Cleburne counties.

Arkansas, Pages 10 on 01/14/2014