A note for listeners: Meredyth Albright, who was interviewed for this story, is a WXPR Board Member.
Now through Christmas Eve the sounds of bells will be ringing outside grocery stores in the Northwoods.
The Red Kettle Campaign is the Salvation Army’s biggest fundraiser. Salvation Army has a presence in all 72 counties of Wisconsin and most of Michigan as well.
“It started as a church, but has grown into so much more than that. There is still the church aspect in some areas, but more than that, it's just a social services organization that really just works to give back to their communities and help those in need,” said Melissa Cornelious the Assistant service Extension Director for The Salvation Army of Wisconsin and Upper Michigan.
Eighty cents of every dollar donated stays in the community the donation is made. With the remaining 20% of donations split between Salvation Army administrative costs and supporting statewide services—which can and has gone back to communities in the Northwoods.
“Last April, when we had all those ice storms we operated. We were delivering food in the Forest County area for a week and a half that they were without electricity. No one could cook,” said Cornelious. “So 10% of that 20% that doesn't go to your local community goes to stuff like that.”
The Association of Churches Providing Emergency Support, or ACES, is a group of Rhinelander area churches that supports people in emergencies.
Started in 2013, people needing help can just go to one organization rather than try a bunch of different churches.
Mother Meredyth Albright is the priest at St. Augustine’s and current President of ACES. She says the two biggest ways they help people are through rent assistance and utility support.
“When utility bills get high that affects everything. We're getting close to the holidays, and people want to do special things with their families and friends, and so then their money gets tighter,” said Albright. “We often have people that are between jobs, and many of them have a job within two weeks. It's just that they don't have a paycheck for two weeks.”
ACES has also helped with things like buying baby formula, car repairs, and furnace replacements.
The churches pool money to fund ACES, but most of their funding comes from the Salvation Army. ACES is one of its voucher writers.
Normally, ACES gets about $28,000 to $30,000 from Salvation Army. Last year, it was less than $14,000.
“We had five months that we could not help people,” said Albright. “I don't think it's ever happened before that we have not been able to help people.”
Albright says between the churches asking their congregations and the Ecumenical Music Festival fundraiser, they’ve been able to fill some of that gap, but she’s hoping donations from Salvation Army will turn around this year.
The drop in donations during the Red Kettle campaign last year were not unique to Rhinelander. Cornelious says statewide donations were down 40%.
“That directly correlates to bell ringers,” said Cornelious. “It’s just a fact that a kettle that has someone standing there ringing a bell brings in way more money than just a kettle on a stand.”
This will be Tom Jerow’s 39th year ringing bells for the Salvation Army.
“I love talking to the people that ring and the people that donate. It's just a wonderful way to experience Christmas,” said Jerow.
Every year, Jerow says people that have been helped by the Salvation Army in the past come by and donate back to the organization that supported them during a hard period.
“This lady gave me a check for $739.45 and I thought that was an odd amount. And I said, ‘Why is it this amount?’ Well, we had replaced her hot water heater for her at a time when she didn't have enough money to do it, it was a tough spot in her budget, and she came back and paid it forward to somebody else. So that was really heartwarming,” said Jerow.
One of his favorites has always been hearing from veterans that the Salvation Army would help support after deployments with things like coffee and a donut, toiletries, and even transportation.
“Unfortunately, I don't hear too much from World War II veterans, but for a lot of years, I talked to a lot of World War II veterans,” said Jerow. “They always stopped and told me their story of how the Salvation Army helped them.”
As Bell Captain, Jerow now helps coordinate bell ringing at the Walmart and Trig’s in Rhinelander.
There are people that come back and ring every year, local businesses and organizations that get a group together to cover shifts.
Jerow and Cornelious are hoping to get more people to volunteer this year to help keep those bells ringing all season long.
“The feeling that you get ringing that bell and watching people put money in that bucket, and everyone is cheery,” said Cornelious. “It's, in my mind, it's really a kickoff to the holiday season, and the spirit that comes with it is just amazing.”
Jerow says shifts are 90 minutes. Bell ringing is indoors at Walmart and outdoors at Trig’s in Rhinelander.
There are also bell ringing opportunities in other communities across the Northwoods. People can sign up for a shift at registertoring.com. Jerow says people wanting to ring bells in Rhinelander can also call him at 715-401-1578.
