On a cold and rainy Giving Tuesday, in Times Square, Major Roberto Ciriaco danced by a Red Kettle outside Carlo’s Bakery. Inside, staff prepared samples of the bakery’s “Give with Joy” red velvet cake to distribute to each passerby on the sidewalk. Reality TV star and “cake boss,” Buddy Valastro, created the “Give with Joy” cake to support The Salvation Army’s Red Kettle campaign, pledging to make a personal donation from the co-branded cake. Buddy filmed spots to promote The Salvation Army on his social media channels, emphasizing the enormous impact of The Salvation Army’s work year-round.

Earlier in the day, Buddy and National Commander Commissioner Merle Heatwole joined hosts Ainsley Earhardt and Lawrence Jones on Fox & Friends to communicate that message to Fox viewers. Speaking of his own experiences with the Army in Dallas, Jones asked Valastro if the Army’s impact motivated him to get involved. “One hundred percent. And I couldn’t be prouder,” said Valastro. “And you really see the impact of what happens when you visit the corps … to see those kids the other day at the corps, to see the love, to see the attention, it’s a family. It really is.”

Calling the Army a “family” is high praise from the scion of a beloved family bakery in Hoboken, NJ. Many members of Buddy’s family, such as his sisters, Mary Sciarrone and Lisa Valastro, were on hand for the pop-up event that unfolded at their Time Square location Tuesday afternoon. As Valastro, Commissioner Heatwole and Commissioner Dawn Heatwole, national secretary for program, began passing out cake and pizza samples to the crowd forming outside Carlo’s, other members of The Salvation Army’s “family” arrived: Haley Anderson and the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders (DCC).

Anderson, DCC’s special project officer and daughter of Dallas Cowboys co-owner Charlotte Jones, was born into The Salvation Army’s extended family and now serves as a National Advisory Board member. At Carlo’s Bakery, she entered the scene donning a “Shieldy” mascot costume as a brass ensemble played carols. The DCC accompanied her to Carlo’s, creating more social media content to generate interest in The Salvation Army’s “Give with Joy” campaign.

The DCC and Anderson kept a busy schedule the week of Giving Tuesday, appearing on the Today Show and Good Morning America the day before. On both programs, the cheerleaders performed one of their signature routines and emphasized the importance of donating to The Salvation Army. Speaking to ESPN’s Joe Buck, Anderson touted the Army’s investment in local communities, “The best part about The Salvation Army is that the money you raise in that community stays within the community.”

Charitable organizations like The Salvation Army have come to rely on Giving Tuesday, the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, to spread their message and raise funds. After communicating the Army’s call to “give with joy” on television and social media, the pop-up event at Carlo’s Bakery felt like a family gathering. Such is the power of Christmas displayed through the Army’s ministry: At Christmas, God invites us all to join His family and to love others as if they’re members of our own. No wonder supporting The Salvation Army is a piece of cake.

Photographs by William Timmons