DONATIONS LAGGING IN FUND-RAISING CAMPAIGN

The Salvation Army bell ringers' jobs last only about a month each year, but the memories from those hours spent in the cold last much longer.

Each has an anecdote or two about their time spent ringing their bells beside bright red kettles. Most mention the children who eagerly rush to the pot, clutching a few pennies to drop in.

"Even if they don't have anything, they will run over to their parents and ask for money to put in the bucket," bell ringer Joyce Cole said. "Sometimes their parents pull them away, but most give them some change.

"Then the children want to ring the bell. The experience means a lot to them."

But while Capt. Elmer Trapp of the Salvation Army is thankful for each cent, he said larger donations are needed if the annual Tree of Lights fund-raising campaign it to reach its $125,000 goal.

With $90,000 gathered through the kettles and the mail, the Salvation Army is about $9,000 behind last year, when the goal was less.

Trapp noted that $10,000 an organization donated for flood victims in 1993 won't be coming this year.

When Trapp and his wife, Sandra, came to Cape Girardeau in 1988, the Christmas goal was $65,000.

But with an increased demand for programs to help the needy citizens in the area, the financial need also has grown.

The money also is used to prepare food baskets for 2,600 people during the holidays. Each family will get a chicken, turkey or ham -- depending on the number of children -- along with canned goods, milk, eggs and bread. It's enough for a large Christmas dinner, said Trapp, who will help volunteers begin preparing baskets on Wednesday.

In the meantime, Trapp has a grueling schedule that begins at 7 a.m. and ends after midnight each day. Sometimes he joins his 20 hired bell ringers in soliciting donations from area shoppers.

"One of the things I have observed this year is a lot of high school students giving," Trapp said. "This tells me that, somewhere along the line, parents and grandparents are teaching their kids that part of life is helping other people.

"I notice kids who are seven or eight years old dropping their Christmas money into the kettle."

Other bell ringers made similar observations. Kristin Ham, in her second year of bell ringing, said the shoppers and workers at the Cape Girardeau Wal-Mart warm her heart through long, cold days.

One man told her he would give her $1 to stop ringing the bell. Ham stopped long enough for the man to buy a soda out of a nearby vending machine and get well inside the store. A woman stopped at the same machine later, but this time to buy Ham a Coke.

Nancy McIntyre, whose kettle is at the Jackson Wal-Mart, said many men stop and empty their pockets into the kettle.

McIntyre greeted one woman who was walking with her head down, looking depressed. The woman smiled at McIntyre and walked out of the store. She returned later with a donation.

"We get more money closer to Christmas," McIntyre said. "People are about done with their shopping, and they want to give their extra funds to people who don't have money to spend on their families at Christmas."

The Salvation Army still needs canned and non-perishable food and new toys, which may be dropped off at 701 Good Hope. To make a donation, stop by a kettle or mail it to: The Salvation Army, P.O. Box 802, Cape Girardeau, Mo. 63702-0802.