The Act of Giving, Passed On

The Christmas season is upon us and just about everywhere you go, the ringing of the Salvation Army bell ringer can be heard, looking for donations from the passing shoppers to help those less fortunate. The sound of the bells ringing always makes me think of my Gramma.

When my Gramma was alive, and I'd be out with her with this time of year, she never passed a Salvation Army bell ringer without dropping some money into the bucket. When I was a little girl, she'd give me the quarters or a dollar to put in the bucket. Gramma always told me that the Salvation Army was there for her family back in the time of the depression, and putting money into those buckets at Christmastime was a way of giving back all these years later.

Every Christmas when I see a Salvation Army bell ringer, I drop a dollar into the bucket, for one it's a good organization to donate to, but mostly, I do it in rememberence of my Gramma who taught me how to do it. Having had Hannah witness my action of doing this over the last couple of years, and perhaps even prompting her a time or two last year to put a dollar into the bucket, she was first to spot the bell ringer at the local grocery store the other day, asking for money to put into the bucket. In asking her if she knew why we put money into the bucket, she answered that the money we give goes to help other people in time of need.

Maybe someday, Hannah will teach her children about the Salvation Army bell ringers and the act of giving will be passed on to yet another generation.


Edited to Add: After talking about this subject post with my mom, come to find out she too had been giving Hannah money to put into the buckets over the last couple of years. My mom remembered one outing when everywhere they stopped there was a bell ringer, and each time, Hannah asked for money. LOL.