There were so many times over the past two months that I have wanted to blog about something funny or heart warming that happened to me during my very first Salvation Army Christmas. But, it seemed as much as I chased time the more elusive it became. I hope to recap the ups and downs so all the world will get a glimpse of the complete insanity that I lived. I have been told by more than a few Salvation Army employees that officers don't count how many years they have left before retirement but rather how many Christmas' they have left. I see the utter joy on their faces when they only have 1 left and now I understand why.
The Salvation Army, I am learning, is really an incredible organization. I have so much respect for them and am hungry to learn how such a large non-profit organization has survived for so long all the while impacting the lives of so many in tremendous ways. I use that as a preface to my next statement, "What the hell are they thinking???" I have never known such chaos and stress and responsibility and frustration and pure insanity before. The Salvation Army all over the world takes on a completely other set of full time duties during Christmas time. They depend on volunteers so heavily, which is a full time job in itself, to get through the Christmas season. Not only was I coordinating over 100 bell ringers to man 50 locations 6 days a week 8 hours a day. But the other staff were coordinating providing food and toys to 2200 families....complete chaos. All of this was going on in our office space that we are too big for on a normal day so you can only imagine what an additional 30 volunteers, 1000 pounds of food, and 100 metal kettles lying around would look like.
With all that said, here are the highlights and lowlights of my first Salvation Army Christmas:
1. Explaining to each bell ringer orientation why they will be fired if caught stealing.
2. Letting a bell ringer go for "making unwanted advances at the store's female employees."
3. Being at work by 8:30am and leaving at 11:00pm 3-4 nights per week.
4. Receiving frantic calls on a Saturday morning from a bell ringer who wanted a new bell because hers wasn't loud enough.
5. Working with a woman who wanted to bell ring but had no place to sleep at night. It was all she could do during the day to find a place to stay and therefore couldn't continue to work for us. Absolutely heartbreaking.
6. Hiring a bell ringer who had to walk 12 miles to get to work. He would get off from bell ringing at 8pm, arrive at his "home" (really his run down truck) at midnight, only to be up to catch a ride into town at 6am. I have never seen such determination for an income.
7. Receiving my daily call from Sam, one of my favorite bell ringers. He is disabled and was my eyes and ears at the mall.
8. Having a bell ringer actually leave a kettle full of money on her stand in while she went to lunch, instead of leaving it at the customer service station right inside the door. (This is a very big no, no!!!)
9. Knowing that this seemingly insignificant minimum wage job is a life saver for some.
10. Not raising enough to meet the goal that we had set and wondering if there was more I could have done.
What I will NOT miss:
1. Working 6 days, 70 hours a week.
2. Only seeing my husband 3 nights a week.
3. Not feeling able to respond to the simplest of emails b/c of lack of time.
4. Being too busy to drink water ( I wish I was kidding.)
5. This sickness that I am hoping will leave now that my body won't be so stressed.
6. Having atleast 5-10 calls to return at any time of the day.
7. Wondering if my bell ringers are actually working.
8. Finding out that bell ringers didn't work and didn't let me know until that night.
9. Having to be stern with bell ringers when I really wanted to give them all that I had.
10. Bells!!!
What I WILL miss:
1. Meeting new people and hearing some amazing stories. I had many return bell ringers, people who love the job and look forward to it year after year.
2. Counting money. It was fun to see how much was brought in each day.
3. Providing a paycheck for some who need it so bad.
And that's about it. Not a lot I'm going to miss about this season, definitely ready to move on!!
Thank you Salvation Army for my breaking me in and thank you Jesus for bearing the weight. It feels good to breathe again.
