I ran accross this on snopes the other day.
I too believed that the ringers got a cut of the collections. I had no problem with that at all, but I was mistaken. Some do get paid, but most volunteer.
The Salvation is, and always has been, in my opinion the number one charity organization anywhere.
Good ol’ Snopes!
Peace,
mangeorge
I never heard that the ringers got a cut. I don’t think I would have believed it because it didn’t seem to fit. They always seemed like a straight-up charity which I guess they are.
I never heard this either. I knew they didn’t get a cut because my dad was in Kiwanis for years and every year had to take his turn ringing the bell downtown. He sure as shootin’ didn’t get paid for it; Kiwanis provided volunteer bellringers as a community service project.
I’ve never heard it either. Still, I prefer to give my limited charity dollars to organizations without religious affiliations.
So, am sad to say, in the giant mall in our town, the stores complained that the bell ringers were distracting so now the Salvation Army has no bells.
They are the ultimate charity: they’ll go anywhere and help anyone.
How sad and pathetic those stores are. The collectors look lonely without their bells. Bells are for Christmas. And for the Salvation Army. Stupid stores.
So are the bells going the way of the famous Salvation Army Bands?
Yeah, no shit. Especially religious ones in which the government forces you to contribute to as part of your probabtion.
Good to know the evil lady who responded to my handfull of change, “Every little bit helps, Sir.” didn’t get a cut. 
Ones that don’t discriminate in their hiring practices are pretty high on my list.
No Salvation Army, no Boy Scouts. Both groups do good work, there are other groups that do good work that aren’t run by bigots.
The clerks, drivers, and warehouse people around here appear to be pretty mixed. Are you referring to sexual orientation, maybe?
mangeorge
I do know that some of the bellringers around here are paid to do it. They’ve told me. However, they also look like they could really use the money, so I guess it’s a way for the SA to help them while allowing them to contribute.
StG
I’ve rung bells for SA. I didn’t get paid. I’m pretty sure the vast majority are volunteers but I thnk some of those who do it are already employed by the Church in other ways.
The Salvation Army is one Christian church that really does follow what Christianity is supposed to be all about.
How in the world can you stand there and ring the bell constantly for hours?? It would drive me insane.
How much did you collect in a shift? If I was part of an organization that wanted its members to volunteer with the SA to ring that bell, I would just write a check for however much I would have collected that day. Much better than driving myself insane and annoying hundreds of people all day.
My brother works at the Salvation Army store in his town. He works there full time and is paid above minimum wage. However, I’ve never heard of bell ringers being paid for that task.
I was standing in a mall so it wasn’t cold or anything. It does get a little tedious and your arm gets tired after a four hour shift (I did get some breaks).
I have no idea how much money I collected. The bell ringers have no access to the cash once in in the kettle and the money isn’t counted on site. It was a busy mall during Christmas season and the money was coming in pretty much nonstop, a lot of it was bills rather than coins. My wag would be that I collected, on average, at least several hundred dollars, maybe more than a thousand in a four hour shift (it was a big kettle).
As far as I know, the majority of volunteer bell ringers are not members of the church. I wasn’t.
I never felt like I was annoying people. They tended to be very friendly and chatty. I never verbally asked for money (that seems to be frowned upon). I got the impression that putting a dollar or a handful of change into the slot made people feel good about themselves in the midst of all their consumption. It doesn’t hurt that SA has a sterling reputation.
Yep. As I recall, religion as well.
They have a right to hire who they want. I have a right to ignore their bell ringers in favor of charities without discrimantory hiring practices.
Yeah, I was thinking the same thing.
I know they do good work and all, and I think that’s great in a time when there’s so much need (yes, Virginia, the world’s priorities remain deplorably skewed), but when I *am * able to give to charity, I, too, prefer to give to those that don’t discriminate.
And, yeah, I know–mileage obviously varies, as I’m certain that not *everyone * who donates to them is cool with discrimation.
My wife works for the Salvation Army. It doesn’t discriminate in its hiring practices. My wife has done a lot of hiring. They don’t even ask about sexual orientation. They do refuse to offer domestic partnership benefits but they ARE a church, after all, not a business.
Most importantly, they don’t discriminate at all in who receives services. When it comes to maximizing the amount of money that goes directly to services, SA is as good as it gets.
Do they have health insurance benefits?
Yes.