Stop that f’ing ringing! There is nothing more I can’t stand than the Salvation Army bell ringers. For those of you who don’t know, in the United States, we have a tradition where people stand outside of stores with red kettles collecting money for a charity. They ring a damned bell to get attention. It’s annoying. It is BEYOND annoying. I want to choke these people.
Now, I have said here on more than one occasion that I have and do give money to charities that I feel are worthwhile. Just because these people ring bells, I will not give them money. My money generally goes to help GLBT charities. It’s my cause, it’s what I do. I don’t want to only feed poor gays and lesbians, but all people. Unfortunately, these smaller, more targeted causes need our support more than ever. Stop ringing the bells. How much money do you think it takes to collect that money from thousands of people and distribute it? Give me a charity where more money goes to direct support and I will support it.
Tags: bell ringing · charity · christmas · gay · glbt · holiday · salvation army2 Comments
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2 responses so far ↓
You want to donate to another charity, cool. There’s no need to diss the Salvation Army, though.
The people ringing the bells are either volunteers, people being helped by the Salvation Army, or sometimes officers in the Salvation Army — what they earn is paltry. The Salvation Army is known for using the money efficiently. Charity Watch gives them an “A” According to Forbes, they’re 90% efficient.
Back when I was a paramedic for the City of Pittsburgh, we wound up being called to the Salvation Army on a number of occasions. They help a tremendous number of people — and like LIght of Life, Pleasant Valley Shelter, and others in the area, helped prevent us from finding “bumsicles.” Ok, that’s rude, but there’s only so many dead street people you can find before you have to find some way to protect your brain and heart. Except for one person, every single street person I knew by name — you get to learn their names — is dead. Street living isn’t a great survival strategy.
I’ll take the bell ringing over dogs barking “Jingle Bells” or Madonna’s Christmas songs or “Grandma got run over by a reindeer” any day.
Ok, maybe the bells are annoying. But as someone who’s job is in marketing, more or less, I can tell you that without the bells, donations would drop. I can’t fault them for that, especially since I pull stunts for advertising, too.
Most of the people I know who are members of the Salvation Army are GLBT. That’s an obviously biased sample — I only know two, and one of them might be closer to “BTFOOM” than GLBT — and I’ve never asked if it’s a “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” situation, but still….
Rob,
It certainly wasn’t my intent to dis the Salvation Army. In fact, I think they are one of the better charities to give money to. My own mother is a person who whole-heartedly believes in them and gives them money regularly. The bell ringing is annoying.
Unfortunately, I have to “get tough” on these posts to force people into action. Don’t just think that because you throw a few dollars or quarters into a kettle that you’re done. You are NOT. I also don’t doubt that most of the bell ringers are not paid and that the money collected does go to some members of the GLBT community.
Giving must go on year ’round. A 90% efficiency rating is extremely high for any charity and I applaud those who spend their own time to stand in the cold and collect the money to help those in need. I still don’t doubt though, that pooling all of the money from of those kettles costs a lot of money. Give $20 directly… it may help more get that help they need, especially in these trying times for our country.