Salvation Army still looking for bell ringers in Sonoma County

Barbara Slade has been a bell ringer for the past six years, last season collecting more than $8,000 for the charity, the third-highest total in Sonoma County.

This year, the 75-year-old grandmother and retired Palm Drive Hospital business office employee can be found guarding her red pot outside G&G Supermarket in Santa Rosa from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. weekdays, sharing warm holiday greetings with shoppers while decked out in festive headwear.

She tries to make eye contact with shoppers on their way into the store in the hopes they’ll remember to donate on their way out, pressing candies into the hands of some donors as she thanks them for their generosity.

Spending three hours perched on a wooden stool in sometimes-chilly temperatures isn’t as bad as it sounds, she said.

“If you like people and believe in the cause, it goes by pretty quickly,” Slade said.

She’s one of about 80 people who signed up to be a bell ringer this year.

Salvation Army Lt. Dan Whipple said the number is down from last year, when more than 300 bell ringers raised up to $175,000.

Bell ringers began last week and work through Dec. 24.

“We’re 9 to 10 percent behind at this point,” Whipple said. “It’s picking up, but it’s kind of concerning.”

Whipple said he’s looking for more people to grab a bell and collect donations that make up 10 percent of the charity’s annual operating costs.

This year, the Salvation Army provided meals for Lake County fire victims and is expected to go back at Christmas with more meals and toys. The rest of the budget is spent entirely on Santa Rosa programs.

“It’s a great time,” Whipple said. “People have a lot of fun.”

Sign-up information is online at ?salvationarmysantarosa.org.

Bell ringers stake out about 30 locations, mostly in front of stores, where volunteers work from an hour to multiple hours a day.

Jackie Simons of Santa Rosa, a retired Codding Enterprises property manager, is planning to take a spot in front of Walgreens on Highway 12 in Rincon Valley as well as at G&G Market.

Simons, who has been taking part the past eight years, brings along her poodle, Coco, to “break the ice” and grab the attention of kids.

She dons a red Santa hat, fleece jacket and warm boots, hoping to collect about $2,000 total.

Contrary to popular opinion, the day after Thanksgiving is not the most productive. She has found closer to Christmas is when the most donations flow in.

“That’s when people start getting really generous,” Simons said.

But there are gaps this year. And it’s not just because people aren’t signing up.

One of the longest-serving and most successful bell ringers, Russ Swart of Bennett Valley, is expected to miss part of the charitable season because of health problems.

The 67-year-old retired car salesman pulled in $14,000 last year and is almost always in the double digits.

His usual haunt is the Safeway near his home on Yulupa Avenue. His routine was to pack a lunch and warm clothes and go for 10 hours a day.

Now, he’s talking with organizers about pitching in later on if he starts feeling better, he said.

Swart said he misses the action. He’s been struck over the years by people’s generosity, whether they are affluent or homeless. One year, a man tucked a check for $4,000 in his kettle. He also remembers the tug of emotion when a man living in his car apologized to him for donating a quarter.

Above all, he tries to let people know he’s grateful.

“I never judge,” Swart said. “Pennies, nickels, dimes all sound great to me going into those kettles. It’s the little things that really matter. And they add up.”