COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — A Colorado woman volunteers hundreds of hours yearly, with some of that time spent as a bell ringer for the Salvation Army.
Corie Prophet spent each Friday for the past month and a half sitting in her wheelchair outside of Bass Pro Shops on the north side of Colorado with a smile on her face and a bell in hand.
"It's just a way to get back to the community, and I have the time and always have loved the Salvation Army and everything they do," Corie explained as people put cash in the red kettle next to her. "To me, this is Christmas. This is a part of it, and it's a way to give back."
When News 5 arrived at her spot, Corie's father was by her side.
"I love the fact that Corie loves to give back," Corie's father explained. "She's just always had that giving spirit."
Corie has been ringing a bell for the Salvation Army for 16 years in the rain and snow. There have been times she's volunteered while it was 15 degrees below zero!
"When she graduated college, she knew that she wasn't able to join the daily workforce, and she was depressed about it," Corie's dad added. "She didn't really know what she was going to do next, and she was getting Social Security, and we just talked about it, and she said that if she was going to get Social Security, she was going to find a way to give back to her community to earn that money. And it's just something that that she's done. She volunteers for the Salvation Army, for the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo."
Corie volunteers about fifteen hours each week throughout the year and is among more than 1,000 ringing bells this year in the Colorado Springs area.
"There's lots of ways that these kettles truly change lives in our community," Jeane Turner the Community Relations Director for the Salvation Army of Colorado Springs told News 5. "That money that goes into those kettles stays right here in our community.
Turner shared some impressive numbers with News 5 showcasing just how much money the Colorado Springs branch has raised in recent years, nearly $2 million:
2019: $334,000
2020: $436,000
2021: $335,000
2022: $450,000
2023: $470,000
Turner added that online donations have been growing since the pandemic:
2022: $15,743
2023: $38,187
2024: $47,000 as of Tuesday at 8 a.m. and growing
The number of volunteers has also grown in recent years, with the Salvation Army adding paid positions.
2020: 1,201 volunteers volunteering 6,403 hours
2023: 2,576 volunteers volunteering 9,200 hours
2024: 4,145 volunteers volunteering 12,500 hours
If you would like to give, or volunteer next year, click here for more informationon the Colorado Springs branch.
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