Annetta Bevers can't begin to count the memories she treasures from her 20 years of volunteerism with the Salvation Army. This is especially true during the holiday season when the organization launches its annual Red Kettle Campaign on sidewalks and at storefronts across the Metroplex.
"Witnessing so many people donating to the Red Kettle gives you such a feeling of pride," Bevers says, noting that a ringing bell and cheerful greeting brings out the generosity in people like little else.
Patrick Patey, spokesman for the DFW Metroplex Command, says the money from these kettles - more than $2 million last year - assists more than the Army's Christmas needs "We spread the money raised from the Red Kettle Campaign throughout the year for our year-round programs," he said.
These programs include supporting 15 community centers across DFW, several of them located in Fort Worth. Besides its Lancaster location, the local Salvation Army operates family stores, senior housing, a substance abuse program, the Northside Community Center and the Mabee Social Services center.
"Within these locations," says Patey, "we offer various programs and services that individuals would otherwise not have access to, such as youth centers, preventative services, crisis-oriented services and even after-school care and music lessons for children."
And because individual giving makes up a large percentage of the Salvation Army's operating budget, projects like the annual Red Kettle Campaign are paramount to its success.
While many bell ringers are Salvation Army clients, volunteers such as Bevers play an important role. The Army encourages civic and religious organizations and even school groups to spend a day - or even a few hours - with the red kettle outside shopping locations to ring in the holiday spirit.
Perhaps as popular as the Red Kettle Campaign is the Salvation Army's other holiday project - Angel Tree. Angel Tree supports needy children who might otherwise receive nothing for Christmas. Last year, more than 50,000 angels were adopted from Angel Tree locations across the Metroplex.
Each December, shopping centers, including Hulen, Ridgmar and Northeast Malls, host Christmas "Angel Trees" filled with names of children - along with their age, gender, clothing size and a special gift wish. Shoppers can selectone - or several - "angels" and purchase each one clothing and toys. Items are then returned to the mall's Angel Tree area, where volunteers organize and prepare them for delivery.
To Bevers and her fellow volunteers, the selfless giving of others to the Red Kettle and Angel Tree may well be their most treasured memory.
"I just think it's special to see a parent show their child the Angel Tree and explain to them what it is for and how blessed they are to have so much," she says. "Watching a child help their parent give to a less fortunate child instills in them compassion for others that will stay with them all of their life."
