Salvation Army hopes bells ring up a record

Monday, Nov. 19, 2001 | 9:37 a.m.

The Salvation Army kicks off its annual kettle drive today with its work cut out for it: Thousands of resort workers have been laid off in the past two months, sites for the familiar bell ringers are still heavily restricted, and officials wonder if heavy giving following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks will cut into traditional holiday generosity.

The timing of those factors is important. Money raised between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day accounts for between 25 percent and 35 percent of the Salvation Army's annual budget, Lt. Col. Jim Sullivan, head of the Salvation Army Clark County Command, said.

Early indications are hopeful. The group's mail-in appeal, the agency's other big Yuletide fund-raiser, is up about 35 percent, Sullivan said.

But the bell-ringing kettle drive, which started in the United States 110 years ago, is the key to whether the charity will obtain the funds to maintain a number of its programs next year.

It faces tougher obstacles. Ordinances and liability problems reduced the number of bell-ringing sites to one-third the number of a decade ago. Combined with a sluggish economy, that could mean less change in the kettles.

Sullivan, however, says the economy does not necessarily have to be good for the kettle drive to do well.

"Back in the 1970s, I was in Boise, Idaho, and the economy was terrible -- a lot of people out of work -- but we wound up having our best year ever to that point for the kettle drive," said Sullivan, who will retire in July after 40 years with the organization.

"We've also had instances of collecting less than we expected in years when the economy was good. I think in a good economy people can get apathetic. In tough times, people pull together and help each other."

Since the terrorist attacks on the United States and during the subsequent war in Afghanistan, charitable organizations have received record donations to help victims at the scenes and those affected by the economic downturn.

"We have seen a spirit of giving and unity that has not been there in a long time," Sullivan said. "I am optimistic it will continue through Christmas."

But despite a boom in the local population, the Salvation Army is not expected to come anywhere near the record $320,758 it set for Las Vegas kettle drive donations in 1992.

That's because anti-vagrancy ordinances enacted since then have closed off lucrative Fremont Street and other areas to all charities. As a result, the kettle drive over the last five years has averaged only about $176,000 a year, including $174,335 last year.

Countywide the picture isn't much better. Including Henderson and North Las Vegas, the Salvation Army last year collected $327,174 in the Las Vegas Valley -- down $21,580 from 1999.

Eight years ago, bell ringers and their kettles were allowed in more than 150 Las Vegas locations. This year only 50 sites in the city will have them.

"The kettle drive was at one time our biggest fund-raiser, but no more," said Gary Zielinski, finance director for the local charity. "Each year, we have fewer and fewer locations.

"Companies that allow us to collect in front of their businesses have to allow every other charitable group to collect there as well or they'll get sued. So many businesses simply don't allow anyone to collect, including us. It avoids a liability situation."

Another problem is finding enough people willing to stand for eight hours a day on concrete surfaces, often in cold, wet weather and ring a bell until their arm gets sore -- all for $6 an hour.

Despite the thousands of layoffs of resort workers in the wake of diminished visitor volumes, the Salvation Army office at 2900 Palomino Lane has received few job applications for bell ringers from that sector.

Why?

"I can answer that real easy -- they are doing so much better on unemployment than I can pay them to drive one of our trucks, and that pays better than bell ringing," longtime Salvation Army bell-ringer supervisor Sandra Taylor said.

Last week Taylor conducted orientation for this year's bell ringers, who range from homeless people and those in Salvation Army recovery programs to seasonal workers and people who just want to do some good for their fellow man.

"This is a way for me to give something back to my community," said Judy Dupree, who has been a bell ringer for five years and whose grandmother was in a Salvation Army band. "Of course, the money comes in handy for Christmas."

Candice Mueller, who was a bell ringer last year, had not planned to do it this year, but recently got laid off from her job as a clerk at a local hospital. Her husband, a casino worker, was laid off for a week, but got called back to work. The family is playing catchup with its bills.

"I like meeting people and working outdoors, so this is a good job for me," said Mueller, a mother of two. "And to be part of something where people give to help others makes me feel real good."

Taylor, who started as a bell ringer 18 years ago, said each year she accepts a significant number of applications beyond what is needed to initially fill the positions because there is a great turnover of bell ringers.

"As a young girl, what I remember most about this time of year was walking down the street and hearing the Salvation Army bells ringing," she said. "To me that was what Christmas was and is still all about -- people caring about other people."