Column: ‘Army’ of won

I hate to admit it, but I haven’t always been happy to see the red Salvation Army kettles and hundreds of bell ringers show up outside my shopping place. I didn’t like that twinge of guilt I felt when I walked past them going to and from the store.

That changed several years ago, though, when I responded to a challenge made to me while I was covering a story about the month-long Christmas campaign for the Salvation Army.

During my interview of the Salvation Army captain, he asked if I had ever volunteered for the event. I had to say no.

In the newsroom that afternoon, I told my friend, Susan, about the interview and asked if she had been a bell ringer.

“No,” she said. “But I will if you will.”

Soon we issued the challenge around the newsroom, and several reporters agreed to take a two-hour slot outside one of the discount department stores.

This story appears in the print edition of Times-Post. Subscribers can read the entire story online by signing in here or in our e-Edition by clicking here.