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Neither snow, nor sleet, nor cold kept a crew of volunteers in the Tri-Lakes region from helping the Salvation Army set a record for donations during this year’s Red Kettle campaign.

A check for $45,003 was delivered to Maj. Richard Larson of the Salvation Army at the Monument Hill Kiwanis Club meeting on February 6, at the Monument Hill Country Club. Giving increased by $4,000 compared to 2014, and $7,500 versus 2013. The Club, with responsibility for just 3 of approximately 80 Salvation Army locations in the region, produces a significant portion of the annual donations by the communities, more than 12 percent of the net proceeds from the Red Kettle campaign.

A service project of the Monument Hill Kiwanis Club – formerly Monument Hill SERTOMA – bell ringers from the Club set up in front of the Monument Safeway and the Jackson Creek King Soopers and Walmart stores and manned the kettles from Black Friday through Christmas Eve. More than 40 Club members spent over 600 hours during the four-week “bell-ringing season.”

“Every dollar, 100 percent of what is put into the kettles, goes to the Salvation Army of El Paso County,” said Barrie Town, Club Red Kettle Campaign Chair.

Salvation Army’s Dirk Lambert said: “Since the Monument Hill Kiwanis began ringing bells in 1992, more than $567,000 has been raised. The ongoing commitment and support of the Club has been invaluable to us and the 17,000 individuals and families that the Salvation Army serves each year.”

In addition to Kiwanis Club members, kettles were staffed by local Kiwanis Club-sponsored Key Clubs and Builders Club members of School District 38 and the region’s Boy and Girl Scouts troops. Bell ringing, even during the cold and snow, is an annual service highpoint for many club members.

Kiwanis Club member Scott Ross has been a bell ringing volunteer since joining the club in 2010. “I enjoy the chance to offer a friendly greeting, a hearty ‘Merry Christmas’, and I especially like giving kids a chance to ring the bell,” he said. “About half are too shy to try, but those who grab the bell are creating a memory for a lifetime. I like to think that I’m training the next generation of Red Kettle bell ringers.”

The Monument Hill Kiwanis Club is a 501(c)(3) public charity and a Colorado nonprofit corporation that has been serving the needs of children of the region for over 40 years. The Club meets at 8 a.m. every Saturday at the Monument Hill Country Club, 18945 Pebble Beach Way, Monument. For more information, visit monumenthillkiwanis.org.