Jamestown ND – The Salvation Army in Jamestown is asking the community for assistance in meeting its Red Kettle fundraising goal this year. The organization’s Jamestown 360 Life Center has just expanded its bell-ringing program to operate six days a week until December 23, and is in need of volunteers to bell-ring for two-hour shifts. New hours for both the Cashwise and Walmart kettle locations will be 10:00 AM to 8:00 PM, every day except Sunday.

The original kettle campaign kicked off on November 10 with volunteers ringing just two days a week, but the expanded program means there are nearly 800 new two-hour shifts that are now available to be filled.

“Bell-ringers are vitally important to our campaign, because a kettle that has an actual bell ringer with it will raise between $60 and $90 an hour,” said Joanne Johnson Lee, service extension director for The Salvation Army. “That’s an enormous help in supporting our feeding and housing programs, because an unattended kettle doesn’t raise any funds.”

This year’s Red Kettle goal in Jamestown is $60,000 and is a critical element to The Salvation Army’s overall holiday fundraising campaign, as 75% of the organization’s funding is raised in the last three months of the year. These are funds that are needed to provide struggling families with food, housing and financial assistance throughout the year, and donations made at Jamestown red kettles will go to support programs in the local community.

While the pandemic has abated for the most part, North Dakota families are still struggling economically. According to PolicyLink.org1, there are 9,000 North Dakota households behind on their rent, an average of $1,000 each. Investopedia.com reports that more than three out of four Americans say they are living paycheck to paycheck2, and with higher prices for food, gas, rent and heat, many families are forced to choose between feeding their families and paying rent.

“As more and more people come to The Salvation Army for help, we in turn rely on volunteer bell ringers for their help at this most important time of year,” said Sophie Crowell, volunteer relations director. “And if you ever feel like you’ve forgotten what the true meaning of Christmas is, ring a bell at a red kettle and you’ll quickly remember.”

Individuals, families, churches, businesses, and others can begin their own bell-ringing tradition by signing up at RegisterToRing.com, or by calling the Jamestown Salvation Army directly at (701) 252-0290.

Earlier Story

November 10 marked the nation-wide kickoff of bell ringing for The Salvation Army’s 2023 Christmas campaign.  Present for the bell ringing kick-off at Cash Wise Foods were Salvation Army Advisory Board members (left to right) David Bratton, Jerry Bergquist and Michelle Weaver.  This year’s campaign goal is $150,000 with $60,000 of that goal coming from the kettle portion of the campaign.

This first weekend (Friday and Saturday), kettles have been set up at Cash Wise Foods only. Next weekend kettles will also be set up at Walmart at both the Home and Grocery entrances. More days and more locations may be added to the schedule as the campaign progresses.

As always, more bell ringers are needed and are a very important part of a successful kettle campaign.  All collected money stays here in the community where the need continues. Anyone or any organization can go to www.registertoring.com to sign up for two-hour intervals at the location(s) of your choice.  Or call The Salvation Army at 701-252-0290 during business hours and sign up.