The Salvation Army’s Red Kettle Campaign will be more than a drop in the bucket this year. Two hand-held credit-card machines will take donations from people who aren’t carrying cash. “We’re trying to stay with the times,“ Salvation Army spokesman Jeff Baldwin said yesterday during a trial run at the Ukrop’s store on Forest Hill Avenue.

Alice Goodwin has been instrumental in donating millions to help others during the four-plus decades she has lived in Richmond. Now that she has been named the 2009 Richmond Christmas Mother, she’s encouraging others to look for their own generous instincts to help families in need this holiday season. The gift doesn’t need to have lots of zeros at the end to be important, she said.

The WRVA Alden Aaroe Shoe Fund isn’t just for shoes anymore. Donations of more than $60,000 this year helped more than 800 children get off to a good start in school with whatever they needed most. “It’s grown to provide more than just shoes,“ said Jeff Baldwin, spokesman for the Salvation Army, which administers the 42-year-old fund. “It’s back-to-school supplies, and if they need a pair of sneakers, by all means get the sneakers, but they may need a hooded sweatshirt or gym shorts instead.“

When Upton Scott “Jake” Martin Jr. got up in the morning, there were hardly enough hours to fit in all he wanted to do. He devoted at least eight hours to his work as senior vice president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, where he was in charge of check collections, billing and equipment, money, printing and supplies, as well as data processing and planning.

An item initially appearing on Wednesday’s TimesDispatch.com reported that officials had rushed to investigate a woman’s dead body found on Kensington Avenue. The first 15 or 16 postings from readers made snarky comments about whether the paper was right or wrong to identify the neighborhood as “West End.“ A woman lay dead, and her fellow citizens responded with mindless chatter.

Majors Dan and Francina Proctor, area commander and coordinator of women’s ministries for The Salvation Army Richmond Area Command, are leaving to accept similar posts in Oklahoma City. The Proctors, who will leave June 22, will be replaced by Captains David and Dawn Worthy, who now serve as divisional youth leaders for The Salvation Army in Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi.

Vote for your favorite charity on Facebook to help the organization get a share of a $3 million giveaway by Target. The 10 charities in the running include the Salvation Army, Red Cross, PTA, Breast Cancer Research Foundation, Feeding America, HandsOn America and National Park Foundation. Go to Facebook.com /Target, log in to your Facebook account and click to cast one vote per day. Voting ends tomorrow.

As the recession deepens, more Virginia utility subscribers are falling behind in paying their winter heating bills, and more are having their electric and gas service disconnected, officials said. “There’s an uptick in the number of customers who are having difficulty paying their electrical bills,“ Dominion Virginia Power spokesman David Botkins said.

Steve Green is a most unusual handyman. He doesn’t come to your house, he doesn’t build fences and he can’t do electrical work. Yet, he wants to be the first guy you call if you wantthose things done. Green owns Hocoa, a service network company in Henrico County that matches members with contractors. Members, who pay an $89 membership fee, call him when they have work to be done on their homes. He then matches the job with screened contractors.

Steve Green is a most unusual handyman. He doesn’t come to your house, he doesn’t build fences and he can’t do electrical work. Yet, he wants to be the first guy you call if you wantthose things done. Green owns Hocoa, a service network company in Henrico County that matches members with contractors. Members, who pay an $89 membership fee, call him when they have work to be done on their homes. He then matches the job with screened contractors.

If Joseph, Mary and the infant Jesus arrived in Richmond, they’d probably end up on West Grace Street. True to its name, Grace east of Belvidere Street is buoyed by good will that seems divinely inspired. This strip is home to The Daily Planet, a beacon for the homeless, and the Salvation Army. This area is a safety net for people who have run out of options.

As Christmas Day approaches, donations are pouring in for the Richmond Christmas Mother Fund.

Monday is the deadline to apply to the Richmond Christmas Mother for help this year. Requests for assistance should be made in writing to the Christmas Mother Fund, P.O. Box 12400, Richmond, VA 23241, Attn: Christmas Mother. People seeking aid must include their addresses and phone numbers in their written requests. Aid requests for children ages 15 years or younger must be made by a custodial parent or guardian.

The Salvation Army Christmas Center, a place where generous donors help make Christmas dreams come true, celebrated its grand opening yesterday. “We’re all about having something to look forward to on Christmas morning,“ said Maj. Dan Proctor, the Salvation Army’s Richmond-area commander. “We have so many people to thank and recognize.“

A woman who wrote to the Richmond Christmas Mother Fund asking for help for her family of six said that her husband lost his job during the summer and her income has been cut in half. While her husband studied to get his commercial driver’s license and began training for a new job, the family depended mainly on her income, and the bills piled up.