Bell Ringing

[naomikritzer]

A week or two back, I was at a strip mall with Molly and Kiera (going to their dentist) and we passed a woman ringing a bell by a red kettle.

I suppose I could explain this for anyone reading this from another country -- in the U.S., the Salvation Army raises money each December by having volunteers stand next to red kettles, ringing a bell. It's their big fundraising campaign. The Salvation Army does various useful things, including disaster relief, but the reason I give them money each year -- despite their semi-controversial status -- is that they provide assistance to certain homeless populations that are very difficult to serve, including hard-core alcoholics and people who are seriously mentally ill. They are an imperfect organization, and we donate a lot more money to other groups, but my donations to the Salvation Army don't come out of the money that I consciously set aside to give to charity -- they come out of the "random whim" budget, money that I'd otherwise spend on something like a mocha or a magazine.

Anyway, I gave Molly and Kiera each some change to put in the bucket, and the bell-ringer offered Molly the bell and let her ring it for a minute. She was totally fascinated, and after we got into the car, asked how this woman got to be a bell-ringer.

I told her that she was a volunteer. (There are paid bell-ringers, but most are volunteers. Some of the paid bell-ringers are homeless people who were given the job as a form of assistance, but I think lilisonna did it as a straight-up job, years ago.) I noted that if Molly wanted to, we could volunteer to ring bells for a couple of hours and collect money for them. Molly wanted to, so I called up and volunteered.

They want you to sign up for at least two hours, so we signed up for a two-hour slot outside the Rainbow Foods at Hiawatha and Lake Street. I arranged sitting for Kiera, and took Molly up to the grocery store after I picked her up from the school bus. We dressed warmly.

Molly was really into it for the first 45 minutes or so. She found it tolerable for another half hour. The remaining 45 minutes......she was DONE. I worry more than I probably should about what people think of me, and I worried about all the people who were looking at Molly and thinking, "that poor little girl, her bad, bad mother dragged her along to ring a bell for the Salvation Army, probably to build character."

She managed to suck it up for most of that last 45 minutes, though she did demand to know what time it was approximately every three minutes.

I actually found it reasonably entertaining. I've always kind of wondered how much money these kettles bring in. It mostly arrives in very small amounts -- the most common thing I saw dropped in was a dollar bill. But some of those dollars looked thick enough that I was pretty sure it was $2 or $3 going in, and one lady put in a twenty. (I was pretty sure it was Molly's cuteness that brought in the twenty.) I tried to keep a rough mental tally, and I think by the end of the two hours we'd brought in about $150.

This grocery store is not in a particularly wealthy area. There were a couple of people who donated change who I think were donating out of their grocery budget. One man who dropped in money looked like he might be a client of the Salvation Army, or have been one in the recent past.

It was interesting to watch people come and go. I could generally tell who was going to donate because they'd generally stop while still in the heated entryway to dig out some money, although a few people walked past, thought about it, and then stepped back and pulled something out. Some non-donators made eye contact and smiled, some didn't look at me because they were hurrying to their car, and some really studiously didn't look at me. At one point a group of rowdy teenagers were standing right behind me smoking cigarettes, and the donations dropped off significantly until they moved on. A few people stopped to chat, especially with Molly.

The kettle is locked to a stand, but the stand can be moved without all that much difficulty. When we were done, we scooted the stand into a corner, stashed the red aprons and the bells with the stand, and left -- yes, leaving the money unattended. It's what they tell you to do. Some locations have a steady stream of volunteers, but this one doesn't -- the next volunteer wasn't coming until 6:30. It is very disconcerting to leave a bucket full of money just sitting there (even locked to a heavy stand), but they don't get stolen very often -- they're usually placed in a high-traffic spot, and nearly everyone knows what they are and many would interfere with someone trying to steal one. On occasion, they do get stolen, and this gets lots of indignant news coverage and they get a bunch of additional sympathy donations, so they probably figure it's a risk worth running unless it becomes a much bigger problem.

Comments

[maevele.livejournal.com]

you know there's some queer weirdness with the salvation army, right? Like, they do some actively anti-gay stuff, including paying lobbyists? I had no real idea until yesterday.

[lilisonna.livejournal.com]

I was a paid bell-ringer for a season, yes. I recall it as pretty miserable and obnoxious work when stretched out for four or eight hours a day which I survived mostly by singing songs. Did you know it takes roughly 20 minutes to get through the entirety of 99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall? And about an hourish to go through all of the parts of Evita that I knew.

I have some pretty strong objections to the way the Salvation Army treats its people, but I don't honestly know how good they are as a charity. However, as a learning/giving experience for a 7 year old, it seems like a great way to start.

[imponderabilias.livejournal.com]

My dad always like to tell me about the gold coins (worth $100? maybe more?) that occasionally get dropped in the kettles in the Chicago area. I have no idea if this is an urban myth or if it really happens. It actually sounds like something my father himself might do. :-/

I am amazed at your daughter wanting to do this, and kudos to you for making it happen.

[pennski.livejournal.com]

We saw Sally Army bell-ringers for the first time in New York last month and were wondering why the bell?

Here they tend to have a small brass band playing carols. Or people selling "War Cry" in pubs.

2 hours is a very long time for a 7 year-old. Well done all of you!

[yankee-in-texas.livejournal.com]

Well, good for Molly for wanting to give it a try, and good for you for making it happen.

But I hate those freaking bell-ringers. The bells hurt my ears. They are too loud. They hurt my brain. They make me want to scream. I have gotten close to stores I was intending to shop at and gone somewhere else because I didn't want to have to walk past the damn noisy bell. If they would stop ringing the freaking bell when I put money in, I would drive all over town to give money to every kettle.

I know most people don't feel this way, because otherwise stores would disallow the bell-ringers from standing outside their doors, driving away customers. I even give my kids money to put in the kettles sometimes. But I hate hate hate the bells. I hate them from across the parking lot.

Have I mentioned that I dislike the bells? Cos I do.

I have no idea why the noise? the volume? of the bells drives me up a tree, but it does. I have no idea how you stood it for two hours. I would have flipped out and started screaming.