Funding success
I said last year that I was amazed at the kindness and compassion of our supporters in Columbus and the surrounding counties. I can say now, that all the kettles, bells, aprons, stands, signs, and decorations are put away, and I am not amazed, because I knew our supporters would help us raise much needed funds through our red kettle campaign. Our faith would be stretched as we were 20% behind going in to the last week. It was a tough month at the Phillips home. I was out of work 2 weeks with flu and strep throat. I would learn at a subsequent visit to the doctor that I had Leukemia. By the end we went from 20% behind to 11% ahead! We only did this through God’s grace and the help of every person who rang the bell, sat at the Angel Tree, volunteered on distribution day, packed boxes of food, counted money, sponsored kettles, and prayed for us. It gets better though. Last year we had 390 volunteers ring the bell. This year we had 751 volunteers say “yes, I will ring that bell.” It gets even better. Last year, a total of 690 hours would be logged. This year many more came forward to the tune of 1,445 volunteer hours!
Major Cheryl and I, along with our staff members and advisory board, cannot thank you enough for what you did! I think a quote from St. Augustine says it all. “What does love look like? It has the hands to help others. It has the feet to hasten to the poor and needy. It has the eyes to see misery and want. It has the ears to hear the sighs and sorrows of men. That is what love looks like.” We heard those bells knowing that the sighs, and sorrows of men, women, boys and girls would give way to happy Christmas mornings. Let’s do it again in 2017. Thank you!
Maj. Alan Phillips
Salvation Army
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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