# Are the Salvation Army bell-ringers members, hirees, or volunteers thereof? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 4, 2004, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-salvation-army-bell-ringers-members-hirees-or-volunteers-thereof/278031 "2004-12-04T05:50:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![WeRSauron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f19dbf/32.png) [@WeRSauron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WeRSauron)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2004, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-salvation-army-bell-ringers-members-hirees-or-volunteers-thereof/278031/1 "2004-12-04T05:50:07Z")
The people who hold a Salvation Army bucket, ringing a bell, and wishing people a “Merry Christmas” - are they members of the Salvation Army, people hired by the denomination, or volunteers for the denomination? WRS/Thû ---
**Author:** ![rfgdxm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c0e974/32.png) [@rfgdxm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rfgdxm)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2004, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-salvation-army-bell-ringers-members-hirees-or-volunteers-thereof/278031/2 "2004-12-04T05:53:13Z")
> [@WeRSauron](#): > > The people who hold a Salvation Army bucket, ringing a bell, and wishing people a “Merry Christmas” - are they members of the Salvation Army, people hired by the denomination, or volunteers for the denomination? Either members of the Salvation Army, or volunteers. At least I’ve never heard of the SA paying people to do this. ---
**Author:** ![cstamets](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/958977/32.png) [@cstamets](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cstamets)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2004, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-salvation-army-bell-ringers-members-hirees-or-volunteers-thereof/278031/3 "2004-12-04T06:08:48Z")
I’ve known a few people who were paid bell ringers. They were people who would probably have needed the Salvation Army’s help anyway, so maybe the SA just saw it as a way to help these people and get something out of them in return. ---
**Author:** ![SandyHook](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dec6dc/32.png) [@SandyHook](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SandyHook)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2004, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-salvation-army-bell-ringers-members-hirees-or-volunteers-thereof/278031/4 "2004-12-04T06:15:02Z")
The Lions Club I’m in does this as volunteer work every year. I suspect, as **cstamets** said, that any pay is just another name for charity they would have been giving out anyway. ---
**Author:** ![DougC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@DougC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DougC)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2004, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-salvation-army-bell-ringers-members-hirees-or-volunteers-thereof/278031/5 "2004-12-04T10:26:00Z")
- - - Around where I live, bell-ringers are paid minimum wage for doing it. They are hired through local day-labor agencies. And as noted, a lot of the people hired might be partaking of Salvation Army charity programs any other time. -The people who sell poppies for the Vetereans of Foreign Wars are volunteers, however. ~ ---
**Author:** ![Joe\_Mahma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@Joe\_Mahma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joe_Mahma)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2004, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-salvation-army-bell-ringers-members-hirees-or-volunteers-thereof/278031/6 "2004-12-04T19:49:00Z")
There was an Associated Press story in today’s paper that said the Salvation Army is suffering from a lack of bell ringers, and that they were going to be using motorized cardboard cutouts of bell ringers in some locations. The kettles will be kept inside the stores that the cutouts are in front of. The cutouts are equipped with motion sensors and an electronic bell sound.