SAN FRANCISCO — After ringing his hand bell to solicit donations for 51 hours without food or sleep, Salvation Army volunteer Marcelino Soriano had reached his limit Saturday.
“My legs are hurting, and I’m feeling a little light-headed,” the 44-year-old said, as he rang his bell for the last few times outside a Macy’s store in San Francisco’s Union Square.
Soriano was among more than a dozen Salvation Army volunteers nationwide who broke the charitable organization’s 36-hour record for continuous hand bell ringing.
The contest began Thursday with 24 bell-ringing volunteers. The goal was to raise awareness about the Salvation Army’s red kettle donation drive and encourage giving over the holidays, officials with the organization said.
Fifteen volunteers — taking only 10-minute breaks every four hours to go to the bathroom — rang bells past 12 a.m. Saturday EST, beating the previous 36-hour record set in 2010 by a Salvation Army captain in Spokane, Wash.
Soriano continued into the late-morning hours, but five others — including two from Indianapolis — were still going Saturday afternoon.
