Salvation Army Sees Shortage Of Bell Ringers For Red Kettle Campaign

Tulsa Salvation Army is experiencing a shortage of bell ringers for its red kettle campaign and said they don't have as many red kettles around town this year as last year.

Zach Langdon loves this work, ringing the bell and greeting strangers, but said the meaning behind the red kettle means more than a job. 

“I love you know standing out here seeing all the different people and being able to tell them Merry Christmas and God bless you and collect money for a program that helps me and my family out," said Langdon.

Langdon and his family were homeless last year. He credits the Salvation Army and the donations dropped in the red kettles for changing his life through the pathway of hope program.

“The money donated into red kettles provided the program that saves him and his family's life and so a donation it may be a couple of coins, your spare change, but it truly makes an impact and truly changes lives," said Jenny Swyden.

Swyden said Langdon is one of the paid bell ringers. She said the number of volunteers and people looking for seasonal work has dropped and that's affected the number of red kettles around town. 

“For most of the season we have run at half capacity where we only have you know usually 20, I think we’ve had twice where we had 30. And we normally have 50 maybe 60 spots at times," said Langdon. The goal is to reach $700,000 this year and Langdon hopes he can help Salvation Army reach the goal. “If it wasn’t for them I don’t really know where our family would be because we have stability now. It’s really been a blessing," said Langdon.

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