The People With the Bells / myLot

United States

December 16, 2016 6:45pm CST

*sorry the picture came out sideways Every Christmas season I see the Salvation Army bell ringers standing in the cold weather, wishing people a Merry Christmas, or giving some other holiday greeting. Three years ago I struck up a small friendship with one of the people who gives their time to the cause. So every Christmas I see that particular bell ringer and we give each other a big hug. So are similar things done around the world during Christmas time? Although some businesses refuse to let it happen in front of their own stores, generally someone stands by a stand with a "bucket" fixed to it, and people put in money that is distributed by the Salvation Army.

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12 responses

Anna

@LadyDuck (502729)

• Italy

17 Dec 16

We have nothing like this here, but we can put money in big "piggy banks" that are placed at the entrance of the supermarkets and other stores.

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Amber

@AmbiePam (121021)

• United States

18 Dec 16

That's cool.

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Amber

@AmbiePam (121021)

• United States

18 Dec 16

@LadyDuck Come to think of it, I don't think I've heard the bell ringers ask. I guess everybody knows what the bucket is for and no one has to say anything. I've never thought about it that way.

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Anna

@LadyDuck (502729)

• Italy

18 Dec 16

@AmbiePam Here you can spontaneously donate, but it is forbidden to ASK.

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Manisha

@ms1864 (6882)

• Bangalore, India

17 Dec 16

who are bell ringers? ...are they like carolers?

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Amber

@AmbiePam (121021)

• United States

17 Dec 16

No, they ring a hand bell to bring attention to them where they collect any money people put in their bucket. They then bring it back to a charity called the Salvation Army. The Salvation Army takes care of poor people and families, and the Christmas season is when they get the most donations, through the buckets and bell ringers that stand outside large stores. They help a lot of people, and I have come upon a bell ringer who sang Christmas carols as they stood outside.

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Manisha

@ms1864 (6882)

• Bangalore, India

17 Dec 16

oh i've seen this on TV! Didn't know that's what they were called.

Thanks for the info.

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Heather Echola

@GardenGerty (169534)

• United States

28 Dec 16

I have known people who did the bell ringing. I sometimes feel badly that I usually do not have any cash for them. I guess that is a good question to ask about whether or not others do this around the world.

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bonnie

@bunnybon7 (50970)

• Holiday, Florida

25 Dec 16

good question. never thought of that.

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LK2018

@Letranknight2015 (52665)

• Philippines

18 Dec 16

We only have jehova's witnesses here giving leaflets but they haven't visit our place for a while.

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haripriya

@Hari101 (1123)

• Chennai, India

17 Dec 16

Sounds good and I don't see any people like them here. But we do charity donations occasionally. It's good to see people making time of themselves for the poor on that special day. Hats off to them :)

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katsmeow1213

@katsmeow1213 (28716)

• United States

17 Dec 16

They have 2 of them outside of each door at Walmart. I couldn't imagine having to ring that bell for hours on end.. just the couple seconds it takes me to get in the doors is more than I can handle listening to it!

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