By Felix Hoover

For YourNewsColumbus.com

Angela Pace, director of community affairs at WBNS-10TV, was one of this year’s celebrity bell ringers for the Salvation Army’s Red Kettle campaign. She sought donations at the entrance of theKroger Marketplace at Graceland Shopping Center.

Heightened awareness about the Salvation Army’s social service programs prompted Angela to answer the army’s call to voluntary service.

“If I can ring a bell for an hour to make it easier for people, then why not,” she said.

At least one shopper wrote a check on the spot, others dropped in a handful of change, but most, neatly folded currency in supports of the army’s ministries.

Suzanne Accetta was among shoppers who made a deposit in the kettle during Angela’s stint.

“It’s been around for a while,” was Accetta’s first reaction to “Salvation Army.” She also associates it with thrift shops and rehabilitation services for people dealing with substance abuse issues.

Collections were slow at the beginning of the drive, but have picked up as Christmas gets closer, said Bill White, a first-year bell ringer who was referred through a temporary employment service.

“Some people donate multiple times – every time they come into the store,” he said.

Salvation Army Capt. Gordon Sparks said that donations at the Graceland store go to the Chapel at Worthington Woods Worship and Service Center, one of four Salvation Army sites with kettle campaigns, he said. The goal for Worthington chapel is $170,000 in the effort, which began Nov. 20 and runs through Christmas Eve, he said. Other locations have separate goals.