Bell Ringer Registers for 250 Hours

Late last month during the 2008 Kettle Kickoff at the Eagan East Cub Foods, the Twin Cities Salvation Army asked the community to start the holiday season right by registering for 1,300 hours of bell ringing. The goal was lofty, but definitely achievable with the help of KOOL 108, which pushed the effort on-air Nov. 20 and 21.

West St. Paul resident Ryan Zimmer, a regular KOOL 108 listener, heard the news Nov. 20 while driving his wife to her morning classes at the Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Mendota Heights. After dropping her off, he continued driving south…and did the unthinkable.

He arrived at the Kettle Kickoff and told Salvation Army officials to give him all the bell ringing hours they could.

He wanted it, he got it: 250-plus hours.

"Unprecedented,” said Twin Cities Commander Major Darryl Leedom, who nearly fell over after Zimmer made the commitment. “We’re grateful enough for the thousands of bell ringers we already have. But for one person to take on 250 hours is something of a Christmas miracle.”

Since late November, Zimmer (pictured while making his landmark registration) has been bell ringing six 10-hour shifts a week at the R.C. Dick’s grocery store in West St. Paul. He’ll continue until Dec. 23.

When it’s all over, Zimmer will have stood in the bitter Minnesota cold for about 15,000 minutes, or 900,000 seconds. Considering kettles earn an average of $30 per hour, his time translates into $7,500 raised for The Salvation Army.

Why in the world is Zimmer doing this?

"I’m unable to work, so I feel like I need to serve my community in some way,” he said.

Zimmer, 26, is a disabled veteran. The former combat engineer was injured while serving in Iraq. Ever since the incident, he’s been forced to stay home.

Zimmer said he won’t stop at bell ringing. Once the holidays are over, he’ll perform other Salvation Army volunteer activities such as cooking food for the less fortunate.

“I’ve been cooking since I was 6 years old – I can cook anything,” he said, adding that he used to serve food at a homeless shelter in Atlanta, Ga.

Although Zimmer has taken on a sizeable chunk of the 100,000 hours of bell ringing available at 400-plus Twin Cities kettle sites, The Salvation Army needs lots more help.

"Without more volunteer bell ringers, we will not reach our kettle donation goal of $3 million," Leedom said. “What’s worse is that kettle donations are already down nearly $200,000 from last year. We need the community’s support this year more than ever.”

For more information about bell ringing or to register, please click here.