The Salvation Army helps people in need over the holiday season.
But now the nonprofit is in need itself. Directors of North Texas service centers say they’re desperate for bell ringers.
Right now, the Salvation Army has about 50 fewer bell ringers this year compared to 2015.
“I'm concerned,” said Steve Thomas, director of the Salvation Army Lewisville Service Center. “You see the buckets over there, the kettles over there that are unmanned right now, and I just have a handful out there right now.”
Thomas says filling his schedule this season has been next to impossible.
“We're having a real problem,” he said.
Tuesday night, there were just two bell ringers for 20 Salvation Army locations in and around the Lewisville area. Thomas says 400 shifts need to be filled between now and Christmas.
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“We put out literally thousands of emails, hundreds of letters have gone out requesting organizations, churches, nonprofits, schools, any group that will volunteer,” said Thomas.
They’re calls he hopes don’t fall on deaf ears, especially since every dollar helps hundreds of people every day.
“They definitely help people get back on their feet,” Dustin Thompson said, while ringing a Salvation Army bell outside a Hobby Lobby in Lewisville.
Thompson once relied on the organization to get by. This Christmas, he’s giving back the gift of time.
“Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without the sound of the bell,” he said.
Anyone interested in volunteering for the Salvation Army Red Kettle Program is asked to call his or her local branch. A list of the 15 locations across North Texas can be found here.
