Bell tolls aid the less fortunate
December 14th 2010 17:30
Signature Tune
Ring-a-ling ... ring-a-ling...
"Thank you and Merry Christmas!," Salvation Army bell ringer Hugh Brown said, expressing his gratitude to children and senior citizens, who dropped coins and $5 bills into the red kettle.
"I found the people that you least expect to give are the ones that give the most," he said.
Joined by his friend, Joe Price, the pair rang bells for nearly three hours on Saturday at Publix at Palm Plaza in Leesburg. "This is something that you do because you want to help," Brown said.
The two men are among 200 volunteers ringing bells in Lake County this holiday season, according to Barbara Marino, office manager for Salvation Army of Lake and Sumter. The Red Kettle Campaign will continue through Christmas Eve.
"Our Christmas starts in August," Marino said, recalling it was in the hot heat of summer when she and other Salvation Army officials began recruiting bell ringers for the 2010 holiday season by sending e-mails, letters, and making phone calls and person contacts. Many individuals choose to ring bells on behalf of their church groups and organizations. Brown and Price represented Masonic Lodge No. 58.
"To me, the joy is the wonderful generosity of these volunteers who have stepped up to help," Marino said, adding bell ringers can usually be found at 60 different locations on weekends.
"This is our biggest fundraising effort of the entire year with the kettles and also the Christmas mail appeal," said Salvation Army Major Tony Barrington. "The money that is being raised is going to be used to help us pay for the Christmas assistance that we give to children and families. If there is any money left over, it will go into our operating budget here locally to help people during the year."
More than 1,600 families in Lake and Sumter counties have signed up for holiday assistance.
"So far for 2010, the latest report on the kettles is that we've raised $102,000," Barrington said. "We are up for over the same time period from last year by about $4,000, but we still have a ways to go this season."
The Salvation Army raised $212,000 in 2009 and $215,000 in 2008 through the bell ringers.
"I'm hoping that people are able to dig deep and give money to help those less fortunate," Barrington said. "We just encourage everybody to give, if they haven't already, and to perhaps give some more if they are able to do that. The joy to me is seeing people that are being helped. We know how to help people in an emergency situation and we can help people rather quickly; there is not a lot of red tape at the Salvation Army, and that is always a joy to me to know that we can give help to people right away."
The Salvation Army's bell ringers can be found outside local grocery stores.
"Walmart and Publix stores are always our top spots," Barrington said, adding one group of bell ringers -- the Mustang Club from The Villages -- has gone the extra mile.
"They drove their Mustang cars and brought a big load of toys to our Christmas distribution center and they also rang bells," Barrington said. "We love them and we love all of our volunteers, but that Mustang group is quite an outstanding group."
Marino and Barrington have surprised bell ringers by stopping by to see them in action.
"Some were hugging me and saying that they were so happy to be doing this for us," Marino said. "It's just amazing."
The two local Salvation Army officials believe it's important for residents and groups to remember the Salvation Army beyond the holidays.
"Our assistance program for needy families goes on every day," Barrington said. "We help people every day of the year in various ways."
| 39 |
| Vote |
Add To: 
subscribe to this blog
