Bell ringer profile: Enthusiastic young man can’t be stopped
Tyler Pinor is a 29-year-old man from Hanover whose enthusiasm for bell ringing is boundless. He does not let snow, or frigid temperatures, or his physical limitations stop him from spreading joy and raising money for The Salvation Army.
“If I can do this, you can do this as well,” asserted Tyler, an avid outdoorsman who bundles up in his warmest hunting gear at the kettles. “I am just like everyone else, except with a few more challenges that I face to get through life.” Sign up to ring.
He first got the idea to ring bells at age 15, after years of dropping money into Red Kettles almost every time he saw one.
“I said to myself, ‘I wonder what it would be like (to ring bells)?’” Tyler recalled.
The next year, during the 2011 Christmas season, he gave it a go.
“Now I can’t stop!” Tyler said.
He has since been ringing nearly every year since age 16, raising thousands of dollars along the way. His best year was 2019, when he rang for 12 total hours and raised more than $1,200.
His favorite Red Kettle memory occurred many years ago while he was ringing at a Walmart in Buffalo, where a woman sang Christmas carols at his kettle for several hours.
“She would go in and out of my door, and each time she came out, she always sang a different Christmas song,” Tyler said.
What keeps him coming back to ring every year?
“Making people smile,” said Tyler, who spreads added joy during his shifts by playing music and handing out candy canes and hot chocolate packets. “Bell ringing is a really easy thing to do, lots of fun, and very rewarding.”
Be a Bell Ringer
This holiday season, you can Be the Light in somebody’s life by ringing bells for The Salvation Army. Sign up to ring.
Your time at a Red Kettle will be a huge help for local families who need food, shelter and care. Bell ringers typically raise up to $100 per hour – enough to feed three families for week, or help save a family from eviction.
Bell ringing is fun and easy, with hundreds of kettle locations throughout Minnesota and North Dakota. Recruit your friends, family and coworkers to join you – and let your light shine even brighter.
Thousands of volunteer bell ringers are needed. Sign up now and help The Salvation Army provide a merry Christmas for people in need.