Volunteers welcome for Kettle Campaign

Anyone family or club that is considering volunteering to ring the bells for the Hannibal Salvation Army’s Kettle Campaign might want to talk to Wal-Mart Co-manager Dustin Lansdown.
Lansdown not only takes his family to ring the bells, he adds a personal touch by playing Christmas carols on his saxophone.
He plays his horn, Lansdown said, “to liven up with Christmas spirit,” adding he has done this in past years and, “it seemed to make some people give more.”
Ringing bells as a family, he said, “would be a great thing for any family ...It makes you feel good and helps the community.” He had already been a bell ringer before coming to Hannibal, serving with organizations such as the Kiwanis Club for several years.
At Wal-Mart he will be joined one day by his wife, Heather, and three children, Camaron Inman, Destinee Tyk and Ambr Lansdown.
Several clubs, church groups and individuals have offered to “adopt a kettle” at one location for a day, said Major Normalene Daniels, leader of the Hannibal Salvation Army.
“Musical groups are welcome” to volunteer, Daniels said, whether they are vocal or instrumental. “If anybody plays an instrument at a kettle spot, they love that music. It gives them that Christmas spirit, and it’s just a wonderful attribute.”
In addition to Lansdown’s family volunteering, Daniels said, “Wal-Mart has taken a day, and the employees will go out and ring when they have their breaks.”
Some families who volunteer “say they want to teach their kids to give back to the community,” she said. “This is a nice way to do that. You stand outside and meet people. Even a couple of hours helps.”
She added that “there is no deadline to volunteer. ...We ring until Dec. 24. I will take them until that morning, if they call.”
Volunteers may choose their spot. “We will meet them with bells and buckets and aprons they will wear,” she said. “We lock the bucket on and we will mark the bucket, knowing it belongs to that club or volunteer so they will know how much they raise for us.”
To volunteer or learn more about how to help call the Salvation Army office at (573) 221-7072 weekdays.
 
Kettle Campaign
at 10 locations

Bell ringers are working at 10 locations, eight of which are in Hannibal. In addition to the two main doors at Wal-Mart, they are at J.C. Penney, Kroger, Walgreens, Big Lots, County Market and Save A Lot, all in Hannibal, and the C&R markets in Palmyra and Monroe City. “We need at least 16 persons at one time just to cover in-town,” Daniels said.
“My goal is to try to have at least Saturdays with no paid employees. For each kettle spot I don’t put a paid person at, I save an average of $150 that day.
“We are getting calls almost daily,” Daniels reported Monday, adding that “the more clubs we get, the better.” Some groups compete against each other and see which can raise the most on their day, she said. When the donations are counted each night, a record is kept of each individual kettle.
More locations are welcome, Daniels said. “I want to say thank you to all the stores that allow us to put kettles in front of their stores, and I am always looking for new locations, so we can add kettles.”
The kettles that are not staffed by volunteers are manned by paid bell ringers, which offers a minimum wage job to people in need of work, she explained, “so in some ways we are helping the families, too.”
Another group who might want to help is college students who need to do community service as part of a class, she explained. “They may do this and I will be glad to sign for them.”

Salvation Army
to help 250
families

Last year more than 1,000 children received Christmas presents from the Salvation Army, and nearly 150 families received food for Christmas.
Daniels expects to help at least 250 families this Christmas.
The Kettle Campaign goal is $32,500, and the direct mail goal is $27,000, she explained, “so our overall Christmas goal is $68,500.”
Although this is a Christmas campaign, “the money we make in Christmas season is what we use throughout the year,” she emphasized.
Last year $31,000 was raised in the Kettle Campaign, although snow and ice caused difficulties. “Last year overall we raised $67,000 at Christmas,” Daniels said. “I think it will be difficult this year due to the economy.
Gifts are provided to children age 14 and under. “We set up the toy shop, and parents come in and pick toys for their children under age 14. We give them wrapping paper so they can take it home and wrap it.”
She receives a list of the families accepted for assistance each year in the Glad Tidings Adopt-A-Family program, Daniels said, and ”if they are accepted, we won’t assist them” so the assistance can be given to more families.
The Salvation Army has added a new way to make donations this Christmas. This is online kettles. “You can go to www.onlinekettle.org and there is one for Hannibal,” Daniels said. “You can make donations on line to that kettle or if a club or business wants to adopt a kettle and have a competition in their office, we can do that online.
“It is all done online through credit cards, and the money will be sent to us from the online company. If it goes to Hannibal, we get 100 percent.”
She added that this year with job layoffs and raising utility bills, many people will be needing help, not just at Christmas. “We help with rent assistance and utility assistance and help in purchasing food for the food pantry and other items needed throughout the year,” she said. “We received a FEMA grant for this and United Way funds are specifically for utility and rent assistance, and extra donations also are used to assist families.”

Angel Tree offers
another way to help

The Salvation Army has an angel tree at Wal-Mart with numbers representing children in the families who apply for help at Christmas. “It is confidential, so they are only given a number,” she explained. The person taking the number does not know who the child is. The angel card will “give the age and gender and give ideas what the child would like,” she said.
“We ask that whoever picked that angel off the tree purchase items and either bring them here (to the Salvation Army) or drop them off where they picked up the angel. They are not wrapped, because the parents enjoy doing that themselves. If a child is adopted through the angel tree, those gifts will go to that child. We will not put them in the toy shop. This is a different program. We try to make sure families are taken care of through one or the other.”
Employees of General Mills take angel tree cards and help each year, Daniels said.
Another group that helps is the TNT Harley Riders. “They have taken over 100 angels already,” she said. “They also gave us monetary donations this year, and there were over 200 toys.”