Salvation Army tries to reach its goal despite tough times

In what has become an official sign of the holiday season, the bell ringers are back.

The Salvation Army's bell ringers, their red collection kettles at the ready, began appearing at local grocery and big-box retail stores on Friday.

Despite continuing grim economic news and recent tough times at the local charity, Salvation Army staffers said they hope they'll reach their goal of raising $500,000 this year to help fund their Angel Tree, food basket and other holiday programs.

"If you look at the history of the Salvation Army in years past, even when we've had tough economic times, we've always done well at Christmas," said Maj. William Raihl, the agency's Clark County coordinator.

It's a long history. The Salvation Army has been in the Las Vegas Valley since 1946.

This year, hundreds of bell ringers will appear through Christmas Eve at stores throughout the valley and in Pahrump and Mesquite.

The charity has scaled back somewhat on its red kettle campaign this year to save money, including cutting the number of locations bell ringers work and cutting the number of bell ringers from 250 to 200.

The Salvation Army has had a tough year, weathering cuts in state funding and a 20 percent decrease in donations, Raihl said. The charity recently announced cuts to its addiction rehabilitation services and suspended those services for women because of funding shortfalls.

It also had to lay off 25 workers in the past couple of months, Raihl said, trimming the agency's work force to 250.

"That's the most unpleasant thing I've had to do in my job," he said.

But Raihl maintains high hopes for this year's red kettle campaign.

"This community has been very good to the Salvation Army," he said. "Whenever we have a need, they have come through for us."

About 20 percent of bell ringers are volunteers. The others are paid temporary workers who make about $7.50 an hour.

"A number of them are seniors on fixed incomes, who are earning a little extra spending money for presents for the grandkids," Raihl said.

The Salvation Army does background checks on all of its workers, and the kettles are locked "to give everyone a level of comfort" about where the money ends up, he said.

Contact reporter Lynnette Curtis at lcurtis@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0285.