The Salvation Army has a ringer in Vancouver.
For the past 58 years, Chuck Mulligan can always be counted on to ring a bell next to a red kettle to collect donations for the Salvation Army’s annual holiday drive.
Mulligan, 85, continues to make the Salvation Army a part of his life as the need continues to grow. Especially in a pandemic. He was recently at Fred Meyer Grand Central for his yearly volunteering.
“I think they are a wonderful organization,” Mulligan said in between bell rings and holiday well wishes. “I wanted to help out a little bit. It isn’t much, but it helps.”
Mulligan, who was on the Salvation Army Advisory Board in the 1960s and ’70s, said people of Vancouver and throughout Clark County have always been very generous.
He hasn’t been aware of any big donation being put into one of his red kettles over the years, but said “people do put checks in. I just don’t see the amount.”
Like many things, the pandemic has cut into volunteer hours and bell ringers. Plus many others are aging out.
“Most of our ‘old-timers’ have died or are unable to continue the work,” said Steve Rusk, community relations and development director for the Salvation Army in Vancouver.
Mulligan’s 58 years of continuous holiday service is becoming a rarity.
Rusk said there are three people in Clark County with 15-plus years of bell ringing service. Some service organizations — the local Rotary, Lions and Kiwanis clubs — have been involved in bell ringing for 25-plus years.
“We rely on the service clubs and older people because they have the time,” said volunteer coordinator Joe Lennington. “But when clubs cut back, it puts us behind the eight ball.”
Which is why for the first time, the local red kettle effort has gone virtual with the website vancouverredkettle.org. Folks can go online and make a donation anytime as well as see a brief history of the red kettle.
“We are down about 10 percent from last year,” Lennington said of donation levels. “Considering COVID-19, that’s not a horrible thing. And all the money we get goes to good use.”
Volunteer hours are also predictably down due to the pandemic, 50 percent for bell ringing according to Rusk.
Lennington said those considering being a red kettle bell ringer should know that they will be required to wear a mask. The red kettles are disinfected regularly, and fresh aprons are provided (they are washed after each use).
“Volunteers are the backbone,” Lennington said, adding that a volunteer can pick where and when they would like to bell ring. “We are very easy to work with.”
Just ask Mulligan, who insists he doesn’t hear the bells in his head all day after helping out.
“I hope to make it to 60!” he said of his volunteer streak.
