“More than ever it’s harder to get bell ringers because of the COVID-19 situation and we totally understand that,” said Sue Byrd, who is helping with bell ringer registration for the Salvation Army. “We’ve tried to do everything we can to make people feel safe as they’re ringing. We have the see-through shield screens we’ve made at the locations that people will stand behind. The buckets will be in front so there’s no face-to-face interaction between the people, but you can see each other. We’re hoping that will make people feel better while they are ringing.”
Bell ringers are stationed at Walmart, United, and Brookshire’s, along with Hobby Lobby on Saturdays.
For those interested in serving as a bell ringer, they can sign up online at registertoring.com.
“We have a website where they can go and look at what’s available, registertoring.com, and those are set up in two-hour shifts,” Byrd said. “If people go the website and see a shift they want to do but don’t want to do the full two hours, just call us, we can access that and put in the hour they want.
“If people don’t have access to a computer or a smart phone, to get on the website you can go to the library and they have computers available to do that, and they’re helping us with that.”
Byrd stated the Salvation Army is also welcoming donations through the mail.
“We’re also hoping we get a lot more people who will just mail in donations and such so we can keep things running because we do have more gaps in our ringing schedule than we normally do,” Byrd said. “It’s important to keep all the services going so we’re really hoping that we can get a lot more people who will do that.”
The financial impact created by the pandemic has affected families across the area, which has increased the need for assistance from the Salvation Army.
Stacy Tennison with the Salvation Army stated in a recent interview on KOXE radio, “More than ever we need to raise money this year because our numbers have more than doubled because of COVID. With the second wave of it coming up, we feel like our numbers are going to continue to be on the rise.”
Byrd added, “There are a lot of families more in need than ever, and we need to be able to help those families whether they are in need of food, clothing, housing, or to keep their heat on. There’s just a myriad of problems that trickle down from this.”
Also, the Salvation Army’s winter drive is underway as well. Any winter-related items – coats, gloves, toboggans, etc. – can be dropped off at the Salvation Army location in Brownwood at 403 Lakeway Drive between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. Monday through Friday.