Ringing bells to help the community

This time of year, families are ringing in the holidays — and the area Salvation Army units are ringing too — bell-ringing, that is.

Volunteers in both Conifer and Evergreen are standing outside local businesses, ringing bells to ask people to put donations in the iconic red kettles. What many people don’t know is the Salvation Army puts 90 percent of everything raised back into the community where it was collected to help those in need.

“Bell-ringing is so important because it’s our only fundraiser,” said Jacqueline Neal, chair of the Conifer Salvation Army unit. “For 30 days we raise money to help our community. It’s important that we continue to raise this money. We try not to turn anybody down and fulfill every request that we can.”

The bell-ringing volunteers are important because if they’re not ringing, money is not going into the kettles, Neal said.

The Evergreen unit gets some of its requests for assistance through Evergreen Christian Outreach and the Seniors’ Resource Center, while the Conifer unit gets requests through the Mountain Resource Center and works with the Intermountain Rural Electric Association. The Salvation Army units help pay for such things as energy bills, car repairs, medical bills and rent for those in need.

Read more here: www.canyoncourier.com/content/ringing-bells-help-community
By Deb Hurley Brobst
Tuesday, December 4, 2018