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Salvation Army seeks bell ringers Maryjayn Thompson, 11, of Medford, works Wednesday on Angel Tags while volunteering at the Salvation Army in Medford. Mail Tribune / Jamie Lusch Wednesday Nov 16, 2016 at 4:26 PM Nov 16, 2016 at 5:02 PM Ryan Pfeil Mail Tribune @RyanPfeil Maj. Jason Koenig says he's seen citizens miss the Salvation Army's iconic red money-collection kettles when they're gone. In 2003, while working in Casa Grande, Arizona, where volunteer bell-ringers appeared in front of stores just a few days a week, Koenig was setting up a kettle when a man approached him. "On Monday, I came by. Where was your kettle? It wasn't there," the man said to Koenig, who is now a coordinator for the Salvation Army's Medford Citadel Corps. "He said, 'I've made a commitment: Every time I see a kettle, I put something in it, and I don't ever walk past a kettle without doing that,' " Koenig recalls. Thirteen years later, Koenig is on the hunt for bell ringers again as the holidays approach. Those hired will receive minimum wage. Applications for the positions can be picked up at 304 Beatty St., Medford, and are accepted from 9 a.m. to noon and 1 to 5 p.m. weekdays through Nov. 22. Koenig hopes to hire between 50 and 60 people so enough bell ringers can be ready to go if some don't show up, either because of sickness or fatigue that can come with the job. "We'll start very strong in the beginning, and then when we get into our last week, then we're really pooling the ground people, and the difficult part with that is that's when we need our full load of people, because that's when people are giving more," Koenig says. The Kettle Program began in 1891, according to the Salvation Army website. Joseph McPhee, then living in San Francisco, was saddened over the number of children he saw going hungry. That Christmas season, he came up with the idea of putting a money-collection pot near a ferry landing, inspired by a similar system he saw when he worked as a sailor in Liverpool, England. "He remembered how at Stage Landing, where the boats came in, there was a large, iron kettle called 'Simpson's Pot' into which passers-by tossed a coin or two to help the poor," the site says. The idea worked, developed over time and endures to this day. "As time went on, it then transformed into our little red buckets," Koenig says. The money collected — millions of dollars a year nationwide — helps families in need with food and gifts during the holidays. It also helps with Salvation Army assistance programs for the rest of the year. Lt. Dawn DeJesus, also with the Medford Citadel Corps, says the interactions and experiences she has had as a bell ringer stick with her. "You get to hear stories of how the Salvation Army has helped people, either when they were kids or when they were adults," she says. "A lot of people were really gracious." For more information, call Koenig at 541-773-6965 or email [email protected]. Requests for accommodations due to a disability can be directed to Denise Gende at 503-794-3206, or by email at [email protected]. — Reach reporter Ryan Pfeil at 541-776-4468 or [email protected]. Follow him at www.twitter.com/ryanpfeil.