Maaco Paints One More Red Kettle.and it's a
BIG ONE

Maaco made headlines in October when six of the auto painting shops donated their time and materials to paint 1,200 red kettles for the Twin Cities Salvation Army.

In November, they agreed to paint one more. Only this one was a lot larger. (View photos.)

The Burnsville Maaco painted Big SAL, the largest Salvation Army kettle in the world. The 8-foot-tall red behemoth weighs thousands of pounds and holds an estimated $230,000 in donations.

Built in 2005, Big SAL had become dull and faded after taking a pounding from four cold winters.  

“We couldn’t paint all those kettles without painting Big SAL,” said Jason Liesenfeld, who manages the Burnsville Maaco with his father and store owner Chuck Liesenfeld. “If you’re going to make all those little kettles look good, you have to make the biggest one look good, too.”

It took an auto painting technician one hour and 1.5 gallons of paint to finish the project, a job valued at about $2,000 in materials and labor. 

“We did this for a good cause,” Liesenfeld said. “The economic times have been tough on everybody. We are happy to do something to help out in our niche."

The Salvation Army appreciates the generosity of Twin Cities metro area Maaco shops.

“Between Big SAL and the 1,200 other red kettles, Maaco has donated nearly $15,000 in materials and labor,” said Major Darryl Leedom, commander of the Twin Cities Salvation Army. “We will use the money they saved us to do what we do best – feed the hungry, house the homeless and free people from addiction.”