Red kettle bells ring for hope

Drive has raised about $70,000

Olivia Truman funds a Salvation Army collection bucket manned by Ronald Fields on Tuesday, Dec. 15, outside of the Kroger on Main Street in Hamilton.

Staff photo by Nick Daggy Olivia Truman funds a Salvation Army collection bucket manned by Ronald Fields on Tuesday, Dec. 15, outside of the Kroger on Main Street in Hamilton.

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By Richard Wilson, Staff Writer Updated 11:30 PM Friday, December 18, 2009

HAMILTON — Volunteering as a bell ringer for the Salvation Army has its own rewards, according to Henry Sester.

“After ringing the bell, you come away feeling better for having done it,” said Sester, 59, president of Ket-Moy Printing on Ohio 747 and chairman of the Salvation Army advisory board in Hamilton.

On Monday, Dec. 14, Sester of Milford Twp. and some of his employees rang the bell all day at the Beckett Ridge Kroger. He said annually for the past 18 years he has enjoyed witnessing people’s generosity.

“People are very generous,” he said. “I think if more people really understood the need for bell ringers and understood the experience itself, more people would volunteer.”

The Salvation Army in Hamilton pays up to two dozen workers a rate of $8 per hour to man the bell ringing stations in front of stores all over Butler County, said Maj. Wilder Garcia, director of the local nonprofit.

Groups and businesses that volunteer, even for just a few hours, can alleviate that cost, Garcia said.

The goal of the local Red Kettle campaign is to raise $150,000 this year. The money is used to buy Christmas dinners for families who need help and cover the Salvation Army’s operating expenses during the year.

With eight days to Christmas, Garcia said the organization has raised about $70,000 so far.

“I feel confident that we will reach the goal,” he said. “The Butler community is responding. They are stepping up, penny by penny, dollar by dollar.”

Donations can be sent to the Salvation Army, P.O. Box 2, Hamilton, OH 45012. To find out about volunteering, call (513) 863-1445.

Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2122 or rwilson@coxohio.com.

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