It’s trying times for small-change campaign
By Sharon Salyer
Herald Writer
When Volunteers of America advertised for 35 jobs as bell ringers for their annual holiday fund-raising campaign, they were swamped with more than 300 applicants.
People this year were eager to get jobs that generally pay just $6.90 an hour, slightly above the minimum wage, said Gilbert A. Saparto, executive director.
Competition for the jobs is the toughest Saparto said he’s ever seen in his 37 years with the social service organization. Usually only 40 to 60 people apply for the jobs.
"They’re taking anything available that earns them money," he said. "Minimum wage does not scare them off."
"The people that have come here, I get the sense that for them, it is a depression," Saparto said of job seekers. "They not only can’t find (a job), they don’t know where to turn."
Among the stack of this year’s applicants: an officer for a mortgage company, several college students and an unemployed man with a college degree.
"It’s a trickle-down effect," he added. "All the people have to drop a level in employment in order to have money to survive on."
The money raised during the annual campaign pays for Volunteers of America’s holiday food baskets, gifts for seniors and for children, and emergency shelter programs.
A separate campaign is run by The Salvation Army, which also has bell ringers at area malls and stores.
This year, Saparto often has people waiting in the organization’s Everett offices on stand-by in case someone calls in sick. "I’m like a Labor Ready office," he said.
With incentives given to people who work hard and bring in large amounts of donations, about five of the workers receive up to $11 an hour, Saparto said, but most receive $6.90 an hour.
Last year the holiday campaign raised about $150,000, Saparto said.
The organization’s bell ringers are stationed at fewer stores this year. "I think we’ll be fortunate to raise $105,000," he said, with layoffs and the poor economy increasing the demands for help.
The seasonal employees are stationed at 22 grocery stores and mall sites throughout the Snohomish County. They stand on the sidewalk outside the stores, braving the cold, wind and rain, hoping to attract donations by ringing bells, greeting customers and often opening the door to a store.
On Thursday, Alice Sturgeon, who has spent the last 15 seasons working as a Volunteers of America bell ringer and is an alto in her church choir, serenaded passing shoppers with seasonal and religious Christmas songs.
Sturgeon said she takes the job each year to catch up on bills and to repay the organization, which once helped her in a time of need when others turned her down.
"I think the majority of people give what they can give," she said. "I’ve heard a lot of people saying, ‘I’m sorry. I just got laid off. I can’t give. ’ "
First-year bell ringer Leslie Buell teaches dance classes to children and adults at Everett Community College.
She said the bell ringing job helps make up for income lost after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Class registration occurred the same week as the attacks, and only one of her classes has filled up.
So she’s "only making $200 a month, which isn’t enough," she said. "That’s why I’m here."
The chilly temperatures and swirling clouds of wind-whipped cold rain couldn’t wipe the smile from the face of bell ringer Jenny Hale, who joyfully greeted shoppers entering the Nordstrom store at Alderwood Mall.
The mother of three sons said she feels "very blessed" to have been selected for one of the few available jobs this year.
You can call Herald Writer Sharon Salyer at 425-339-3486
or send e-mail to salyer@heraldnet.com.
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