Hear them ring
By Becky Barclay
Published in News on November 10, 2017 5:50 AM
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News-Argus/BECKY BARCLAY
Capt. Sherrie Stokes and Capt. Phillip Stokes are shown with the Salvation Army red kettle. The Christmas Kettle Campaign starts Nov. 17.
Bells will be ringing and red kettles will be seen throughout Wayne County starting Nov. 17.
That's when the Salvation Army's Christmas Kettle Campaign officially begins. It runs through Dec. 23. The familiar bell ringers will be at 23 locations, including Walmarts, Sam's Club, Carlie C's, Big Lots, Piggly Wiggly in Mount Olive, Harris Teeter and Berkeley Mall, Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Most of the bell ringers are volunteers from the community, said Capt. Phillip Stokes, Salvation Army commander.
You must be 18 or older to man a red kettle by yourself. But any age children can do it with a family, church group or school group.
"We encourage families to volunteer with their children," Stokes said. "Come out and spend some time with your children during the holidays and give back to the community."
Something new this year is how people can volunteer to ring the Salvation Army bells. You can now go to www.kettlevolunteer.org and sign up. You'll be able to see what days, times and locations are still available and pick one.
Stokes said the Salvation Army is looking for bell ringers who are energetic and like interacting with other people.
"A smile when ringing the bell attracts more people," he said. "We've seen people playing instruments and singing. We had one guy bring his easel and he drew while he was at the kettle. It was a young guy going to college, and that's what he was going to school for."
Stokes said the Salvation Army would like to have 100 percent of its bell ringers be volunteers, but knows that doesn't happen.
"We know that most of the people who volunteer are working people," he said. "They have families, they have schedules. We try to accommodate that as much as we can."
But each year, the Salvation Army has to hire some bell ringers.
"Last year we hired 53 bell ringers," Stokes said. "They have to fill out an application and submit a resume."
Capt. Sherrie Stokes said it's not an easy job.
"You're out there for 10 hours a day," she said. "It's going to get cold. It's going to get rainy. So we need dedicated people who are willing to make the mission work."
Stokes said the paid bell ringers do it for a job, but he's also seen it change their lives.
"We had one individual last year who had addiction issues," he said. "We worked with him for more than a year. I finally told him I was going to give him a job as a bell ringer. He hadn't had a job in five or six years because of his addiction struggles."
Mrs. Stokes said the man was living in a house with no electricity and no running water. So he took the job, working 10 hours a day, four days a week.
"You could see the transformation in him from day one to week two," Stokes said. "He started interacting with people. People were thanking him for what he was doing. You could see his demeanor, his emotions, his confidence, you could see all that change right before your eyes."
Stokes said it's about raising funds to help the needy, but it's also about changing a life.
"I've heard people say we shouldn't have to hire anybody to ring the bells," he said. "I wish we didn't have to. But we can provide a job that can lead to building their confidence.
"I've seen where people would ring in front of stores, braving the elements, very punctual, very energetic. I've seen firsthand where the store managers would tell the bell ringers to put in an application with the store when they were done with the bell ringing. And they got a job at the location because of bell ringing.
"That is our goal. Yes, we want to raise funds because they help sustain us throughout the year to help the community, but it's a whole lot more than that."
Also new this year are sponsorships.
"Last year we paid $22,000 in payroll for bell ringers," Stokes said. "We're trying to get half of that covered by sponsorships."
The Salvation Army has four sponsors already, Stoney Creek Church, Seegars Fence Co., Jackson and Sons Air Conditioning and LaFevers Dental Team.
Stokes said a sponsor could be a business, a church group, a civic group, a school group, anybody.
A sponsor donates $1,000 to the Christmas Kettle Campaign, giving it all at once or pledging $250 each quarter of 2018.
The kettle campaign began in December 1891 when the Salvation Army first came to the United States.
Capt. Joseph McFee with the Salvation Army came to San Francisco and wanted to feed 1,000 poor families a Christmas meal. He placed a brass urn at the Oakland ferry landing with a sign that read: "Keep the pot boiling." He raised enough money to feed 1,000 families that Christmas.
"If you care about your community and truly want to help those individuals who are trying but struggling, drop any amount of money in the red kettle this year," Stokes said.