Volunteers help save by the bell

From her spot at the Publix in Paradise Plaza, Judy Altier observes people who smile, people who look away and occasionally, people who snarl when they see and hear her ring the Salvation Army bell. 

On Dec. 8, Altier was at her usual post a little after 11 a.m., when a woman walked by and made a negative comment about the sound of the bell. But Altier doesn’t focus on the occasional negative comment. 

“It made me sad, but I had other people walking in right behind her,” Altier said. “I smiled for the next person.” 

Altier keeps ringing and smiling for people like the woman who approached her less than an hour later with tears in her eyes. 
The woman explained that she and her mother were homeless when she was a child. She had Christmas presents because of the Salvation Army. 

“Now, she gives back because she had Christmas presents as a kid,” Altier said. “My eyes welled up a little.” 
 

Altier is just one of the 1,500 volunteers you’ll see and hear ringing the Salvation Army bell throughout December in Sarasota. 

“They are a critical part of our fundraising,” said Glenda Leonard, director of development for the Salvation Army Sarasota. “Not only are they instrumental in obtaining the donations in the kettles, but the bells ringing serve as reminders for people to go home and write that donation check, send a card, make a call to a friend or just remember some of their own holiday traditions that are important to them.” 

For four years Altier has volunteered on behalf of Church of the Redeemer as a way of giving back for the support she received from the congregation when her oldest daughter, Casey, was diagnosed with bone cancer five years ago. Casey has since recovered, and Altier has brought her and her two other children to volunteer. Another daughter, Sommer, is a student at Booker High School and plays the violin during her shifts. 

“I really think it is important because it’s one of the few charities where it stays within our Sarasota community, and it helps the people who live here,” Altier said. 

And one week after the woman told her about how the Salvation Army helped her when she was a homeless child, Altier heard another story of how the Salvation Army makes a difference. 

She was bell-ringing at her usual spot when a man named George dropped money into the kettle. 

The Salvation Army turned his life around, he said. He was five days away from earning his three-year sobriety pin. He now attends Alcoholics Anonymous meetings at Church of the Redeemer. 

“It was so nice to hear that story that his life had been completely changed,” Altier said. “It was great to know that he is happy and healthy.”