HELENA, Mont.-
The Salvation Army in Montana is falling behind in its holiday collections because it can’t find enough bell-ringers.
On Wednesday, only seven of 14 locations around the city were staffed, and that was a good showing, said Stan Jones, an officer with The Salvation Army.
“The problem is, the few bell-ringers we have are real off-and-on–they don’t always show up,” Jones said.
Daily collections are lagging between $400 and $1,000 behind last year. In just a week, Jones said the local Salvation Army has already fallen $2,700 off last year’s pace.
“By the end of the season, at this pace, we’d be about $10,000 short,” Jones said.
Even at $6.50 an hour, good bell-ringers are hard to find.
The job is posted at the Helena Job Service and Jones hasn’t received any interest among residents at God’s Love, a homeless shelter.
Bob Ruth, who has worked at God’s Love for a dozen years, said the shelter’s residents don’t appear interested in the job, even though they are given two weeks to find work and some of the money raised by The Salvation Army might eventually help God’s Love.
“I’ve tried to get them to ring the bells, but they say it’s not enough money,” Ruth said. “I guess they don’t have any interest. It bothers me when they won’t do anything.”
