Bell ringer profile: Boy, 8, reflects on first time volunteering at Red Kettle
Grant is an 8-year-old Twin Cities boy who has answered The Salvation Army’s call for more volunteer bell ringers. Sign up to ring.
He and his mother, Kristina – both first-time bell ringers – recently decided to volunteer at a Red Kettle after hearing a Salvation Army radio advertisement on KS95. Grant listened to the ad and urged his mother to sign them up.
He didn’t have to ask her twice.
“I absolutely loved being able to expose Grant to people's generosity and get him thinking of others," Kristina said. “Trying to pull any 8-year-old away from a screen these days can be tough."
They rang together outside of Sam’s Club in Woodbury. Their first experience at a Red Kettle could not have gone better.
“I was so excited to ring the bell,” Grant explained. “It felt good to see people being so kind. They gave money, and smiled, and wished us Merry Christmas, and said ‘Thank you’ to us. I want to do it again.”
Grant even made a sign for his kettle. The sign featured his name and the words “Ring! Ring!” on red, yellow and black construction paper.
“I made it to get people to donate more!” he said.
Now that Grant is an experienced bell ringer, he has an important tip for other first-time ringers: “I think people should make sure they bring some hot chocolate to drink to keep them warm – it was really cold at the end (of my shift).”
Kristina, on the other hand, does not require hot chocolate to combat the cold. The sight of her son raising money to help others was enough to warm her heart and spirit.
“Grant feels so proud that he volunteered,” she said. “Each time he hears another radio ad about bell ringing, it further reinforces that feeling and reminds him about what a difference he made by volunteering and giving back to others.”
Grant and Kristina are excited to ring bells together again.
“We will definitely be doing it again next year – and if Grant has his way, possibly again this year,” Kristina said. “We’re already working on recruiting some friends to join us for the next time we ring.”
Sign up to ring bells
With just over a week left in the Red Kettle season, The Salvation Army still needs hundreds more local ringers to reach our goal of 7,500 ringers for the season. Sign up to ring now.
Bell ringing is a fun and easy way to make a big difference, with hundreds of Red Kettle locations throughout the Twin Cities, Greater Minnesota, and North Dakota.
Raise even more money by recruiting your friends, family and coworkers to join.
Sign up to ring now and help The Salvation Army provide life-changing support for people and families in need.
This holiday season, The Salvation Army is calling on all of our supporters to Love Beyond. #LoveBeyond is a national Salvation Army campaign that encourages people to put love above all else, in order to show families in need that love exists beyond their most difficult situations – be it hunger, overdue bills, eviction, addiction, and other hardships. Join us by giving a donation, signing up to volunteer, or ringing bells at a Red Kettle.