Salvation Army ringing the bell to sound alarm for volunteers
After a seven-month hiatus from my weekly WJOB 2 p.m. Wednesday radio show, which showcases the same name as this column, I returned to the broadcast microphone this week.
Not only has the COVID-19 pandemic kept me out of the WJOB studios in recent months, the same threat of uncertainty is having devastating impact on organizations and industries of all sizes and missions, including even long-established charities such as the 155-yearold Salvation Army.
Last week, Kevin Feldman, director of development for the Lake County arm of the Salvation Army, asked me to use my media reach to help spread the word about the Salvation Army’s extreme need for volunteers for the 2020 bell-ringing and red kettle campaign.
In addition to devoting my first return-to-radio WJOB Wednesday show to this topic, my column today also carries the same important message.
“Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s red kettle campaign is called ‘Rescue Christmas,’ and it is beginning two months earlier this year than in the past,” Feldman said.
“The reason for this early start is because, since the pandemic began, The Salvation Army Lake County has experienced a 500% increase in the need for its food pantry, rent, mortgage and utilities payment assistance services. We want to assure that the families hurt most by the crisis will have a Christmas this year. We are also expecting the same amount of increased need for winter clothes and toys for Christmas.”
Capt. Brian Clark, who heads the Munster, Gary and East Chicago Salvation Army offices for Lake County, lives in Elgin, Illinois, and settled in the U.S. in 1995 after moving from his birth home just outside London, where the Salvation Army originated in 1865.
Clark said the morethan-a-century-and-half-old Salvation Army organization has survived previous pandemics, but the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic has been especially threatening in new, insidious ways.
“It is more difficult for The Salvation Army to meet the increased needs this year because many of our volunteers are usually older and because they are compromised by this virus, they are hesitant to step forward this season,” Clark said.
“Also, some retailers have closed, and some that are open have placed added restrictions on our red kettles and bell ringers. It is expected there will be far fewer shoppers and foot traffic than in the past, because so many more families doing their Christmas shopping online.”
Feldman told me in 2019 The Salvation Army Lake County raised a total of $346,145 during its twomonth Red Kettle Campaign, calling on 214 volunteers to ring bells at several retailers ranging from Walmart to Strack & Van Til. This year, Feldman and Clark say they predict they will need as many as 400 volunteer bell ringers starting next month, working time shifts of two hours or more, to raise this year’s goal of $500,000 to help our Lake County neighbors in need. Both men assured me, as well as my readers and listeners, that just about 90% of every dollar raised goes directly to the charity need with less than 10% invested in the administrative needs of the organization.
Founded by the late evangelist William Booth, The Salvation Army is a Christian church and an international charitable organization reporting a worldwide membership of more than 1.7 million, consisting of soldiers, officers and adherents collectively known as “Salvationists.” Volunteer bell ringers can sign up by going to www.registertoring.com or call Feldman at (219) 8381328 to volunteer, or to make a donation.
Clark said 70% of the total amount the organization collects for their entire year comes from the six short weeks during the Christmas and holiday season. Lake County Salvation Army is especially grateful this year that grocer Jeff Strack and his dedicated staff, including his assistant Fran King, are allowing the Salvation Army Bell Ringers and Red Kettles to begin outside the chain of their grocery stores starting, extra early, on Nov. 2.
In 1938, child star Shirley Temple posed with bell in hand with a Salvation Red Kettle to emphasize a key quality of bell ringer volunteers, which is there isn’t an age requirement to ring the now-iconic holiday red bell.
“It can be children of any age to help with our campaign, and we encourage families to sign up together, or youth organizations, like the scouting troops and school and church groups,” Clark said.