The holidays are in full force, and the sound of the season is back with this year’s Salvation Army Red Kettle bell ringers. The organization is working to raise more than $200,000 this year, with new pandemic-era methods to get them there.
The Red Kettle campaign has evolved to keep up with digital spending to continue supporting more than 4.5 million Americans.
Gina Lazara handles public relations and special events for the Salvation Army. She gets the digital needs of donors.
“We do have PayPal and Venmo this year and we’re so happy because it makes it that much quicker. If you’re like me, you already have that information saved on your phone. So the camera app on your phone, you would open that app and you will just bring it close to the QR code. And there it is, hit the link and this beautiful page pops up and what you’ll see is there’s PayPal and Venmo options,” said Lazara.
Volunteer Mary Carr has been ringing the bell for the Red Kettle for six years and says her motivation to volunteer for the Salvation Army stems from seeing that iconic Red Kettle when she was a child.
“I was so curious that I just said, one day, I was going to ring that bell and I was curious about that kettle. So I wanted to see what this kettle really filled up with money [looked like]. And I’m not gonna tell anybody, they have to find out for themselves,” said Carr.
Even now, as digital donations come in, Mary will keep on singing and dancing to fill it, and others, with the holiday spirit of giving. The Salvation Army says they will have 32 live Red Kettles stationed around Onondaga County until December 24.
If you’re interested in donating, or if you’re hoping to ring a bell yourself, visit www.registertoring.com.
