Newspaper Page Text
Page 8A
The Braselton News
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Social
Bells and kettles distinguish Salvation Army’s holiday charity drive
GIVING TO SALVATION ARMY
Greeted by bell ringer Robert Scot, Hamilton Mill Wal-Mart shopper Melanie Scott of Isle of Palms,
S.C. puts a donation in the Salvation Army kettle after celebrating Thanksgiving with her daughter
in Auburn.
For more than 100 years
now, the Salvation Army’s
handbells and collection ket
tles have become a holiday
tradition as familiar world
wide as Santa Claus himself.
The Christmas carol, “Silver
Bells," first sung by Bob Hope
and Marilyn Maxwell in the
1951 movie “The Lemon Drop
Kid,” was inspired by the orga
nization’s bell ringers standing
outside department stores every
year.
And the Beatles’ song
“Strawberry Fields Forever,"
released in early 1967 was
prompted, by the work of the
Salvation Army’s Strawberry Field
Children’s Home in Liverpool,
England.
Described as a unique combi
nation of a Christian charity, a
church and a paramilitary orga
nization of sorts, it was founded
in 1865 by William and Catherine
Booth in London, England “to
bring salvation to the poor, desti
tute and hungry by meeting both
their physical and spiritual needs."
And today, this army’s occupation
includes 113 countries requiring
communication in 175 different
languages.
Although you’d think with
numbers like those, you could
find Salvation Army (SA) carol
ers, bell ringers, and brass bands
at multiple shopping centers in
the greater Braselton area, I had
trouble locating more than a few
collection boxes for canned goods
at a sampling of popular local
stores.
But, after driving around for
a while, I finally succeeded in
locating a traditional red kettle
on a tripod with a bell-ringing
attendant in
front of Wal-Mart in Hamilton
Mill.
There, I met 18 year-old Robert
Scot, a Buford-based seasonal
employee casually attired and
wearing a SA apron instead of the
traditional uniform. Projecting a
winsome smile and ringing that
bell for all he was worth, he
seemed to really enjoy greeting
customers as they entered the
store.
“How did you get hooked up
with the Salvation Army?” I
asked.
“I’ve had a pretty rough past,
realized that I made a lot of mis
takes, and decided that I really
needed to do something worth
while to even the score,” he said.
“What a great example of real
Christmas spirit,” I thought after
hearing how the SA had inspired
this young man to turn his life
around.
Scot told me that he dropped out
of North Gwinnett High School,
hung around with the wrong
crowd, and suffered a few run-ins
with the law as a result. But, he
recently got his GED and now
hopes to attend a technical col
lege to learn the skills he needs to
become an electrical engineer.
Meanwhile, he lives with his
uncle in Buford and, thanks to
his association with the Salvation
Army, has a very positive out
look on his future. And he cred
its both his uncle and parents
for helping him make this con
nection earlier this month.
According to a spokesman
with the SA state headquar
ters in Norcross, the traditional
kettle collections are conducted
at more than 200 locations in the
greater Atlanta area, locally at a
number of Wal-Mart, Sam’s Club,
and Kroger stores as well as at
various locations in Simon Malls.
Funds collected from these sta
tions are used to assist children
and families in need throughout
the year. In addition, the SA is
the designated recipient of TV
Channel ll’s annual Can-a-thon,
providing canned food for the
hungry for 25 years.
At specific times at various
locations in our general locale,
the spirit of Christmas may be
further enhanced by the Salvation
Army’s musical ensembles. The
organization’s Norcross head
quarters provide brass bands and
choral groups for a variety of
holiday special events where their
collection kettles are welcome.
In a nutshell, the SA prides
itself in being one of the world’s
largest providers of social aid,
with annual expenditures includ
ing operating costs of more than
$2.6 billion.
But not all of this funding comes
from holiday kettle collections.
The organization’s charities also
benefit from generous contribu
tions by various individuals and
corporations, the U.S. record for
which was a $1.5 billion donation
bequeathed to the SA in the will
of Joan B. Kroc, third wife of
McDonald’s founder and former
CEO Ray Kroc. Historically, this
donation remains one of the larg
est individual gifts ever given to a
single organization.
Although most of us think of
the SA as a non-governmental
agency that helps individuals in a
personal one-on-one fashion, the
organization is also credited with
considerable disaster relief on a
much broader scale.
Its first major accomplishments
in this regard began in response
to the Galveston Hurricane of
1900 and the San Francisco earth
quake of 1906. More recently, the
SA provided on-site disaster aid
following the Indian Ocean tsu
nami of 2004, hurricanes Hugo,
Andrew, Katrina, and Rita and,
just last year, to the victims of the
Indonesian earthquake in May.
Few charitable organizations
have done more for mankind for
such a long time and, therefore,
it’s certainly no wonder why we
associate the Salvation Army so
intimately with the true meaning
of Christmas. Let’s all remem
ber that the next time we leave
Wal-Mart with a pocket full of
change we could donate to a wor
thy cause, and hear those familiar
handbells on the way out.
Fil Jessee lives in Braselton,
where he works as a freelance
journalist. F[e can be reached at
filwrites @ aol. com.
‘Be a Santa to a Senior’ program seeking volunteers
HELPING SENIORS
“Be a Santa to a Senior” provides gifts and companionship to
more than 1,000 seniors in several Northeast Georgia counties.
The program will be collecting items through mid-December.
The “Be a Santa to a Senior” pro
gram, sponsored by Home Instead
Senior Care, will provide presents to
seniors who otherwise might not be
remembered this holiday season.
“We see many older adults who
have no one during this festive season
and that makes for a very sad and
lonely time,” said Joe Ward, owner of
the Home Instead Senior Care office
in Bogart.
“Whether they are in a nursing home
or in their own homes, where more are
choosing to stay, it’s important to reach
out those who are usually overlooked
during this special time of the year,”
he said.
The Bogart Home Instead Senior
Care office, whose caregivers provide
non-medical home care and com
panionship to seniors in Northeast
Georgia, has partnered with the Athens
Community Council on Aging and two
Athens merchants for its fourth annual
“Be a Santa to a Senior” program.
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Last year, area volunteers delivered
5,000 gifts to 600 seniors in Bogart
and Northeast Georgia. Ward hopes
to serve even more older adults this
holiday season.
“Our goal is to deliver gifts and pro
vide much needed companionship to
at least 1,000 seniors this year,” Ward
said. “We hope that the community
will support our efforts as a way of giv
ing back to the older adults in our area
who have given us so much.”
The “Be a Santa to a Senior” pro
gram serves Barrow, Clarke, Jackson,
Madison and Oconee counties, among
others.
From now until Friday, Dec. 15,
shoppers can select ornaments from
the “Be a Santa to a Senior” trees
at Hodgson’s Pharmacy, 1220 So.
Milledge Ave„ Georgia Square Mall,
3700 Atlanta Highway and the Athens
Community Council on Aging, 125
Hoyt St. Each ornament lists the first
name of a senior in need, along with
gift requests.
They can then purchase items and
return them unwrapped to Home
Instead Senior Care, Hodgson’s
Pharmacy or the Athens Community
Council on Aging along with the
ornament. Home Instead Senior Care
enlists community volunteers, includ
ing members of the Georgia Gym
Dogs gymnastics team, to gather, wrap
and deliver the gifts.
Businesses, churches and other
groups and organizations are encour
aged to contact the local Home Instead
Senior Care office about adopting
groups of seniors.
A wrapping party is scheduled for
Wednesday, Dec. 12. Deliveries will
take place Dec. 17. Anyone interested
in wrapping and delivering gifts can
contact Tanya Woods at 706-613-2224.
Additional information can also be
found at www.beasantatoasenior.com.
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