Volunteers in Aiken ring up revenue to 'do good' with Salvation Army
Dec. 17—The Salvation Army's bells and kettles have a few more days of duty left this year, with Dec. 24 being the last day for the international charity's annual Christmas campaign.
Hundreds of volunteers and several paid helpers are part of the local effort, and it's extremely familiar territory for some participants, with the Rotary Club of Aiken being one of the most active civic clubs on duty every year, whether at Kroger, Food Lion, Sam's Club, Roses, Walmart, Hobby Lobby or another nearby locale.
"I've been a ... local advisory board member for around 40 years," said club member Paul Durban, in the midst of a bell-ringing shift on Laurens Street, at the front door of Lionel Smith Ltd.
"The advisory board takes a day when we, all of the members, ring bells at a place like Walmart or one of the bigger stores. I'm in the Rotary Club of Aiken and ringing bells then as well," said Durban, who runs Durban-Laird Insurance.
"I just try to greet people, whether they choose to donate or not," he said. "It doesn't matter to me. It's just part of the Christmas tradition. People seem to enjoy it. It's always great seeing the little kids, because some of them ... are a little shy about putting money into the bucket but some charge right up and enjoy it."
Ralph Courtney, also with the Rotary group, noted that the club, on Dec. 16, had an arrangement for 112 members scattered among eight locations, each for a one-hour shift.
"Most of the people I dealt with were very generous," said Colen Lindell, recalling a Dec. 6 shift at the Walmart on Richland Avenue. "I spotted a lot of 20s going into the kettle, and parents with their kids putting money in the kettle."
Lindell, the local Salvation Army's board chairman, found himself in a welcome situation, as he spent his shift a yard or two away from fellow bell-ringer Dean Sackett, who was already an acquaintance, partially because Sackett, a retired rear admiral in the Navy, was a professor of Lindell's dad — the late Cole Lindell — at the Naval Academy.
"It's a wholesome thing to see," Sackett said, recalling a steady stream of generous contributions, including some from "the kids who come and try to stuff in all their pennies and nickels, which is wonderful."
Sackett, a current board member and former chairman for the local organization, confirmed that the annual kettle drive represents "a major part of fundraising" a hugely beneficial organization "I think they're wonderful. They do good. They put $1 million back into the area. The shelter is the only 24-hour-a-day shelter in the area. They really help people, and the officers are very meagerly paid. They get a nice house. They get a nice car, but if you compared their salaries to those of other nonprofits. It's a huge disparity," he said.
Durban recalled, "One really amazing thing is, you see people that you would think are really in tough straits, but they're the ones that come up and want to make a donation. They want to help people, and when you're bell-ringing, it really puts you in the Christmas spirit, because you see the generosity of people, and you really do appreciate being able to help other people."
