It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas on Hub streets as Salvation Army soldiers, responding to skyrocketing demands from recession-ravaged families, began ringing bells this week in the earliest recorded start of the charity’s holiday fund-raising drive.

“In my 40 years as a Salvation Army officer, this is the earliest I have ever known Salvation Army kettles being out on the streets,” said Major William Bode, the organization’s state commander. “We have not seen a need this great.”