CONWAY — Capt. Michael Knott of Conway reeled off the names of several churches, businesses and clubs that have volunteered to ring bells for The Salvation Army red kettles — but it’s still not enough, he said.
“We’ve had to hire; we could use a whole lot more volunteers,” Knott said. “We’ve had some response for volunteers. It’s helped, don’t get me wrong, but the push is on for Thursday, Friday and Saturday, when people are out and about, and they’re out shopping.”
The Salvation Army Conway Corps serves four counties — Cleburne, Faulkner, Perry and Van Buren.
The money raised through the iconic Red Kettle campaign is used for operating — utilities and rent throughout the year — as well as to buy gifts for children left on the Angel Trees.
“It doesn’t pay any administration fees,” Knott said. “We try to stretch the best we can. The penny may be worth a penny, but we try to make it five pennies.”
A big expense is hiring bell-ringers to cover the 24 kettle locations, Knott said, including 12 kettles in Conway and the remainder in Clinton, Greenbrier, Heber Springs, Mayflower and Vilonia.
“It takes more [money] out of the kettle,” he said.
This year, Knott said, he has hired 43 bell-ringers at $8.50 an hour at a cost of about $15,000.
On the other hand, Knott said, paying bell-ringers helps people in need during the holidays.
“Yes, they help us by being present, by receiving an income. … Plus, it gives them exposure to show their work ethic, which transitions them into a paying job,” he said.
For example, he said, a bell-ringer at Walmart may get a job there, “which is a positive thing. That’s great, because this is just seasonal. One of those things in The Salvation Army we like to see happen is for them to get jobs. We just know we were a part of that.”
Knott said his “hope and dream is to cover all 24 spots with volunteers” every day.
Longtime volunteer bell-ringer Gerald Finnegan of Conway mans a kettle five days a week from about
10 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the Walmart Supercenter on Harkrider Street. Finnegan said he’s volunteered for as many as 14 years.
“I do it to give back to The Salvation Army,” he said. “They’ve helped me and my older daughter out, and I love the kids.
“We had a tornado in ’82, and I didn’t have any insurance. They helped us out a bunch.”
Finnegan, 68, whose white beard and hair earned him the nickname Santa, was wearing camo coveralls, gloves and a Santa hat as he rang the bell in 45-degree weather one day last week.
“I’ve had ice in my beard, and snow, and been rained on,” he said. “Cold weather and snow help people want to give; that’s just my opinion.
“Not everybody can do this, or won’t do it. I love it, though.”
The kettles will be out through Dec. 23.
Knott said the last week is when volunteers are needed the most.
“That last week, I know a lot of people have their Christmas plans already. That’s when we take a huge dive [in donations], when we have to pay out that week,” Knott said.
“I’d like a minimum of four hours commitment. It makes the experience a positive one and helps me and how stretched I am at managing those 24 sites and kettles.”
For more information about becoming a bell-ringer, call The Salvation Army at (501) 329-1712.
Knott picks up the kettles in the evening and calls volunteers for the next day.
He said that to date, kettle donations are about the same as last Christmas. The warm weather earlier this month helped, he said, but that’s come to an end.
“We are running even-steven with what we did the prior year. My soft-cushion [budget] is $138,000; my hard cushion is $150,00,” he said.
So far this year, no gold coins have been found, Knott said.
In 2013 in Conway, a gold Krugerrand and two 24-karat triangular gold bouillons were dropped into a kettle on different days by anonymous donors. The Krugerrand is a South African coin that is 22-karat gold alloy and copper and was worth about $1,235 based on 2013 gold prices.
Although Knott said he worries about the budget every year during Christmas, whatever is raised, “God takes it and stretches it and meets more needs than we can fathom or imagine.”
He said The Salvation Army is committed to serving people’s needs.
“I’m not going to let a kid go without,” he said. “That’s the neatest thing about The Salvation Army — we do our all to make everybody’s Christmas a great one.”
Senior writer Tammy Keith can be reached at (501) 327-0370 or tkeith@arkansasonline.com.