Even on the way out the door most shopping carts aren’t piled as high as the one being pushed slowly across the Walmart parking lot toward the entryway. Every color and type of soda can, plastic bottle and recyclable created a veritable moving mountain.

Only when the cart is nearly to past does its “driver” pop his head to the side, likely in large part to see where he is going, to say hello.

The elderly man, wrapped in mostly dirty and somewhat threadbare winter gear to ward off the crisp December air, pauses for a moment to scratch his scraggly grey beard.

“Let’s see here,” he says as he thrusts his fingerless-gloved hands into his pockets and emerges with a handful of quarters and a dollar bill or so.

“Merry Christmas and God Bless,” he says with a smile as he drops the contribution into the red bucket and continues his slow trek inside the store in Niles.

Not to judge a book by its cover, so to speak, but it wasn’t too big a leap of faith to see that this individual was likely going to feel the impact of donating even a couple of dollars.

Yet he still gave selflessly.

And on and on it went, experiencing similar stories like this for the entire two hours I volunteered with the Salvation Army.

The sharp clang of the bells and the red bucket are as much a sign of the holiday season as Christmas lights and snowmen. But in my almost-40-years I had never been on that other side of the iconic shield.

It was eye opening and heart-warming — a good thing on that dreary and windy day — both for the volume of contributions and the individuals who made sacrifices to give.

The Salvation Army does so much for the community including operating a food pantry and serving hot meals several times a week. It was a blessing for myself and other members of the Rotary and Optimist clubs to participate.

Our citizens opened their wallets and their hearts, which made my 120 minutes priceless. For the rest of my life, the sounds of those bells will truly be music to my ears.

 

Michael Caldwell is the publisher of Leader Publications LLC. He can be reached at (269) 687-7700 or by email at mike.caldwell@leaderpub.com.