Season of giving a time of great preparation

Standing in the cold, often wearing Santa hats and warm mittens, Salvation Army Red Kettle ringers add a little music to the holiday shopping bustle.

Strolling past, however, few people stop and wonder how much effort goes into organizing the Red Kettle campaign.

Those who stop by the headquarters of the Salvation Army of Waukesha County for a look behind the scenes will never hear those bells the same way again, however.

There is a small window of time - just before Thanksgiving through the end of December - to raise $400,000, one fistful of change at a time.

If the group falls short, fewer nights of emergency shelter will be provided, there will be less money for energy assistance and other support programs around the county will be slashed.

"Nobody is going to say, 'OK, you missed your goal so here's a little extra money.' It doesn't work like that," said Major Carol Lemirand, who runs the Salvation Army of Waukesha County with her husband, Ronald.

And this year, they're not only striving to reach the $400,000 goal - they want to surpass it by more than $100,000.

That means they have to use a combination of volunteer and paid bell-ringers to keep 58 red kettle locations throughout the county staffed, because the campaign has a simple credo: Nobody donates to empty kettles.

"Maybe a quarter or two, but that's it," Lemirand said.

A day in the life

Each morning begins with a brief scripture reading. Then Lemirand lists the paid ringers who collected the most money the previous day, and everyone loads into big vans to be shuttled to locations around the county.

At the start of the day, Lemirand drops everyone off and shouts words of advice for ringing at that location: "The corner over there does really good."

She'll have to come back to collect money from the kettles at midday.

Also, if someone volunteers to ring where a paid bell ringer is assigned, Marcy Stutzman, a volunteer coordinator, has to move the paid ringer somewhere else. That often means someone has to pick them up mid-shift and drive them elsewhere.

Lemirand and her staff have to be ready for the unexpected. On a mild November afternoon, one paid ringer dropped the base of a kettle stand on his big toe, and Lemirand had to drop him off at the emergency room. That left the kettle without a ringer for the entire day.

"If it were a high-volume place, we would have to move somebody over there," she said. "We don't have anybody on backup right now."

Aside from assigning and transporting paid ringers, and recruiting volunteer ringers, Lemirand must keep up with the administrative tasks of the Salvation Army: There is paper work to file, people to interview for bell-ringing positions, grants to apply for.

Lemirand often works past midnight, only to return by 7 a.m. the following morning.

And by all accounts, she's inexhaustible. Although she looks forward to a furlough that will follow the busy holiday season, raising money for the Salvation Army is her only concern.

Big white board

Stutzman has devised a system to track where paid and volunteer ringers will be located throughout the day that helps her organize transportation, and cash pickups.

A white board in the Salvation Army office is cluttered with note cards that help her make sense of the chaotic situation. She then scribbles driving assignments onto slips of white paper.

Volunteers are able to register to ring bells on the Salvation Army website up until the midnight prior to a shift. That means Stutzman has to reshuffle the paid ringers when volunteers come forward and make sure high-volume locations are always staffed.

Local fire departments, school groups and other civic organizations often volunteer to ring for large blocks of time, which makes that task easier.

When that doesn't happen, however, ringers like Gloria Boller are paid minimum wage to take on an eight-hour shift.

Secrets of the trade

When it comes to maximizing profits, Boller said, the best option is often to simply smile and say, "Good morning."

John Shank, another paid ringer, said he keeps miniature stuffed animals in his pocket that he offers to children passing by. For the parents, he said, he offers up a nice compliment.

"If you say, 'hey, nice shoes,' they'll always stop and donate some money," he said. "They feel like they're on the red carpet or something."

However, most people donate without prompting, Boller said.

"They've done their research and know what the Salvation Army does. They know where the money goes and who it helps," she said.

Oftentimes the stories that donors divulge to the bell-ringers are shocking - a young mother with cancer deciding whether to pursue treatment, retirees who have all their adult children living with them again.

"Someone always has it worse than you," Boller said. "Sometimes you have to turn your head so they don't see the tears."

Where they're at

With just days remaining in the Red Kettle campaign, the Salvation Army of Waukesha County had raised a little more than $300,000 of its $400,000 goal as of Tuesday afternoon. To volunteer, or to make a donation, visit the Salvation Army of Waukesha County website or call (262) 547-7367.