On Longboat, Red Kettle volunteerism has a certain ring to it

From the day after Thanksgiving to Christmas Eve, there’s usually a person dressed in red standing outside of the Longboat Key Publix.

And it isn’t Santa Claus.

It’s volunteers ringing a bell for the Salvation Army’s Red Kettle Campaign.  For nearly the last 30 years, the Kiwanis Club has organized the campaign for Longboat Key.

Ed Krepela was the leader this year, and he started asking for volunteers a week before Thanksgiving. He reached out to, of course, Kiwanis Club members first, then asked other groups such as members of Christ Church, and the Longboat Key Garden Club.

Eventually, people’s observance of these red-apron clad individuals made them curious.

“As we’re ringing bells, people would come in and say ‘gee, we’d like to support you guys,’ ” Krepela said. “And that’s how we ended up with 104 volunteers.”

Those 104 volunteers will have filled 224 time slots by the time that bell rings for the final time at 5:45 p.m. on Christmas Eve. Some of those volunteers have taken up to 12 time slots each.

And as the volunteers stand outside Publix, they make conversation with the customers, who turn into donors.

Throughout the entire Sarasota area, an anonymous donor this year offered to match the $20 bills that were donated. As of Dec. 12, 816 $20 bills were donated in the Sarasota and Manatee county areas.

In another instance, Kiwanis Club President Steve Branham was bell-ringing, while a gentleman sat on a bench observing. The man  walked to Branham and said he wanted to donate $500 electronically. Krepela said that if the donation comes through, it will be credited to the Kiwanis Club, which could help them earn the top producer title once again.

For nearly the last decade, the Kiwanis Club of Longboat Key has been the Salvation Army’s top producer during the local campaign. In 2016, the club raised $14,037.43. In 2017, they raised $15,291.63.

As of Dec. 11, the group had raised $10,710.20.

Bell ringing has become a tradition for the Kiwanis members. In 2009, the late Weldon Frost, who rang the bell for 28 years, wrote a column called “Vignettes from a bell ringer.” In it, he explained why ringing the bell was so important to him.

“I watch parents and grandparents teaching their kids that charity is a part of our lives by giving them money and watching them put it into the red bucket,” he wrote. “We are, unquestionably, a nation of the most charitable people in the world.”

Whether they are veteran bell ringers or new ones, like Richard Martin is, some people take close to 10 shifts a year 

Since Frost’s death in 2017, his friend Cash Register, who has also rung the bell for at least the last decade, has picked up at least 10 shifts in Frost’s honor.

“It’s so gratifying for everyone because we look back at these folks and they still do it,” Krepela said.