Have you rung the bell lately?

[Guest]

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[rgraham666]

You, and your kids, do such good work.

 

[Guest]

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[R. Richard]

Outstanding work! I have always admired the work of the 'Starvation Army.' They go where the need is and take care of those with the greatest needs. Any one who helps those people is part of the solution, not part of the problem.

 

[TE999]

Good on you and your merry minstrels darlin'.

The Salvation Army is one of the very few charities I donate to on a regular basis, as I know they won't squander their donations on fancy offices and ad campaigns.

Did you read where someone put a $500.00 gold coin in a SA kettle?

I forget where--but it was a cool thing.

 

[Guest]

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[Guest]

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[rgraham666]

Thanks, TE.

Donations were way up at our specific locations. Each time we performed we at least tripled the usual take for the evening.

And the smiles! Lots of people managed smiles for my energetic group of kids.

It was nice.

(My toes are still cold at present, however.)

Let me nibble on your cold toesies for a while. That should warm you up.

 

[Guest]

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[TE999]

Thanks, TE.

Donations were way up at our specific locations. Each time we performed we at least tripled the usual take for the evening.

And the smiles! Lots of people managed smiles for my energetic group of kids.

It was nice.

(My toes are still cold at present, however.)

A nice foot rub seems to be in order--curse the distance between us.

 

[rgraham666]

Laughing -

That would warm up more than my toes!

That's the whole idea.

 

[_Lynn_]

I've never been a bell ringer for the SA, but I helped with their toy distribution many years. Since they work with Toys for Tots, I have met some awesome volunteers through the two charities.

My part was to help parents choose the toys for their children. Over the years I have heard so many stories from those parents.

The one that sticks with me the most is a newly divorced mom of three boys that took only about two minutes at each table choosing the gifts. When I told her she could look a bit longer, she told me there were more parents that might need extra time, and her kids would be happy with anything she chose. She had nothing herself, but was thinking of the others there first. As she left, she hugged me and cried, thanking me for using my time to help others. Volunteering there is rewarding in so many ways to me.

 

[Guest]

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[slyc_willie]

One of the reasons I love this time of year.

Whenever I see one of the SA guys, or better yet, a Santa, standing beside one of those hanging kettles, I always plunk in a couple'a bucks. It's basically a compulsion, but a good one.

Nice work, Sarah.

 

[_Lynn_]

It's a good feeling, isn't it?

I know that's why we pulled in so much cash. People felt good about donating.

It's the best feeling, yes.

I missed not being able to do it this year.

Years ago I began buying toys on sale right after Christmas to donate the next year. It grew into buying at least one item each month. My highest was 36 toys in one year that I donated. I love to hunt for bargains knowing I can buy more gifts for the same money.

 

[Guest]

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[Guest]

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[English Lady]

I used to go to the local salvation army oh, years back now -a wonderfully generous crowd of people

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

I dont donate to the SA; they have too many government contracts for my taste, and they pay their employees shit.

The other thing they do that annoys me is, they let their friends pick through the donations for the valuables, and sell the crap.

 

[AngeloMichael]

Wonderful work you are all doing, you deserve to pat yourselves on the back.

I always put a dollar in a salvation army kettle when I see one. The night before Thanksgiving this year I went into Walmart for a few things and there was a SA'er outside. I only had a $5 and a $20 in my wallet so I decided to get change when I was in the store to put a $1 in the kettle when I came out.

I used my credit card to pay for my shopping and forgot to ask for change, as I was walking out I realized it. I thought about going in and breaking one of my bills but then I thought "Why not just give them the $5?" and I was overcome by an immense feeling of guilt for donating more than my usual buck. But then I realized I felt no guilt whatsoever about giving up a fin towards such a good cause, I was feeling guilty because I was hearing my parents voices. My mother says she wants to give to charity on her terms (when they moved she donated a bunch of stuff to the SA), but she doesn't trust groups asking for monetary handouts because she isn't sure if the money is getting where it's supposed to go. My dad just gets mad if he sees me giving money to charity because he thinks it could go to better causes, like buying lottery tickets (at least some of that money does go to help people, but it's not like giving to a group like the SA directly).

Anyhow, as I was walking out of the store I realized how silly it was to feel guilty about what my parents thought when I personally had no qualms about donating. Also, while I was in the store, I was thinking about how I had so many things I was thankful for, considering the holiday and all. So I put the $5 in the kettle and what my parents don't know won't hurt them. I have no regrets.

 

[Boota]

Music and writing is where I make most of my money, but my insurance is provided by my day job - driving a truck for the Salvation Army. I'm an Atheist and as anti-Christian as a person can get, but the SA does good work. Today at work I delivered a truckload of new toys and six truck loads of food.

I'm not a member of the Salvation Army, though. I'm in the Salvation Army Reserves. If they ever declare war on the Catholics I can be called up to active duty.

Actually, even though this is just a day job I am on call for emergencies 24/7. If some disaster happens and the SA is needed I can get a phone call at anytime and be on the truck within an hour to wherever we have to be. If I had been working for them when it happened I would have been in NOLA for Katrina. A lot of people from the Kokomo Corps were there.

JBJ, is right to some extent. They do pay their employees shit, however, I have better insurance benefits than most people in this town, and I don't pay for any of it. If I didn't have other income I couldn't work for them, but as it is things work out decently for me.

 

[Rumple Foreskin]

Music and writing is where I make most of my money, but my insurance is provided by my day job - driving a truck for the Salvation Army. I'm an Atheist and as anti-Christian as a person can get, but the SA does good work. Today at work I delivered a truckload of new toys and six truck loads of food.

I'm not a member of the Salvation Army, though. I'm in the Salvation Army Reserves. If they ever declare war on the Catholics I can be called up to active duty.

Actually, even though this is just a day job I am on call for emergencies 24/7. If some disaster happens and the SA is needed I can get a phone call at anytime and be on the truck within an hour to wherever we have to be. If I had been working for them when it happened I would have been in NOLA for Katrina. A lot of people from the Kokomo Corps were there.

JBJ, is right to some extent. They do pay their employees shit, however, I have better insurance benefits than most people in this town, and I don't pay for any of it. If I didn't have other income I couldn't work for them, but as it is things work out decently for me.

Thanks, Boota.

All I've ever done is ring the bell, but I've done that a lot. Lived in a small (20K) college town for twenty years. Each year, the local civic and service clubs would get "volunteered" into ringing da bell. It was a great "feel good" UNLESS you got stuck on an outside site in bad weather.

Rumple Foreskin