Pagosa Springs Rotary Club
Andrew Loren volunteered this past Holiday season to manage the “bell-ringing” campaign mounted outside of City Market and Walmart for the Salvation Army. As volunteer bell-ringers who started or finished days will remember, Andrew dropped off and picked up their gear (bells, collection pot with stand, and garb). Additionally, interjected Neal Umali of Justice Ministries, which coordinates the project locally for the Salvation Army, Andrew counted and deposited the daily collections. 90% of the amount donated in response to the ringing bells supports programs in our community, Neal added. (It is a significant supporter of Feed Our Children, Jo chimed in from the audience.)
Andrew reported the main features of the 2018 campaign:
- The campaign ran 31 days, from November 24 to December 24.
- Volunteers manned pots at City Market all 31 days, but only 15 days at Walmart. Unfortunately, Andrew explained, the Walmart site is totally shaded in the winter, and cold. Although he tried to compensate by providing a heater, the discomfort discourages volunteers at Walmart.
- Multiple churches and other community organizations (plus some independent individuals) staffed the collection pots at both City Market and Walmart, each organization taking responsibility for one or two days. Rotary, however, took responsibility for 10 days. Additionally, Andrew stated that Rotary was the only organization that took administrative responsibility to send pinch-hitters if its scheduled volunteers were no-shows.
- A total of just short of $30,000 was collected during the campaign, 63% at City Market, 16% at Walmart, and 21% by mailed checks.
- Contributions declined on Sundays, when NFL games were broadcast. (Visiting Mountain Rotarian Sam Conti offered the observation that Sunday contributions could be boosted by advancing the starting time on those days earlier to 11 am, to coincide with the conclusion of church services. In her experience, Sam observed, people right out of church are in a giving frame-of-mind. Your reporter’s query to Sam: a manifestation, perhaps, of the power of positive thinking?)
- Odd items were stashed in collection pots, Andrew reported, mostly of minimal value: washers, a shell-casing, tokens, including a Durango parking token, a flattened penny from the Birch Aquarium, and (of course) coins from multiple foreign countries. However, one oddity had value: a 1 oz. silver bar. Andrew said he “bought” the bar from the Salvation Army for its then market value, and since has made a little profit on paper as the value of silver has appreciated.
Andrew commented on potential ideas for improving and expanding the campaign. Obviously, better staffing at Walmart would be helpful, but in addition, Andrew suggested consideration of an additional collection point, such as outside the downtown Post Office, which he noted has substantial traffic. Also, he added that better schedule coordination would be useful to eliminate gaps in staffing, and ensure the availability of pinch-hitters. Finally, Andrew suggested that participation by more community organizations would be valuable.