I don’t know about y’all, but I love the sound of bells ringing when I walk into businesses in Muscatine that have the Salvation Army red kettles! It’s like music to my ears!

Now, please don’t tell my children, who will be volunteering to ring the bell very soon. I would be just fine with them taking it a bit easy on the bells this year.

The time is now to help our friends Lieutenants Greg and Liz Bock at the Salvation Army of Muscatine County. You can become a bell ringer via your smartphone, tablet, or computer. Just log on to www.RegisterToRing.com; it’s that easy! That’s how my family signed up for all our shifts last year, and I’ve done the same again.

Lieutenant Greg Bock is also preparing to live in his giant red kettle this year. Doing so has proven to be very effective, as our local Salvation Army has been able to hit its fundraising goal the past two years successfully. Here’s what I know; the need continues to grow in Muscatine, and I know that together we can make a difference.

Something that I have been thinking about this year is, do we have any corporations or individuals in this town that would help buy Lieutenant Bock out of the kettle for an evening? Does your workplace want to support a good cause and help send Lieutenant Bock home for the evening to be with his family?

Let me be clear; this isn’t something that Lieutenant Bock is asking for but something I have been thinking about. Last year, we had community members step up and cover a few evenings in the red kettle while Lieutenant Bock had to run home after a sickness visited his house. What if we could send him home for one evening? What amount of money would that take? $1,000? $5,000? $10,000?

You know me. If I ever win the lottery, I’m writing a couple of big checks to all the great organizations in Muscatine, and the Salvation Army would be near the top of that list.

The holidays can be a wonderful time of the year and a stressful one. I hope that you’re able to do what you can to lift up our neighbors. It can be as easy as ringing a bell for a few hours to potentially writing one of those large checks. Anything you do will have an impact, that I know for sure!

As I wrap up, I would be remiss if I didn’t give a special shout-out to everyone that made the 21st annual “Two Weeks of Love” campaign a success! That includes Krieger’s, TanTara Transportation Corporation, Hy-Vee, Pearl City Media and Discover Muscatine, Fareway, and first-timers this year, Walmart, and HON. How great is it that we’ve had that community effort for the last 21 years?! Thank you all! Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to ring the bell!