CAZENOVIA — Throughout the next several weeks, Cazenovia High School’s Salvation Army student ambassadors will be ringing in the holiday season with their annual Red Kettle Drive.
The bell-ringing fundraiser will benefit the local community through CazCares, a food pantry and clothing closet that serves low-income residents of the Cazenovia Central School District and surrounding areas of Madison County.
The drive is a student-run initiative organized in coordination with CazCares Client Services Director GiGi Redmond and with support from the high school teachers and administration.
This year, Salvation Army Student Ambassadors JP Hoak, a senior, Reid McMurtrie, a junior, Owen Woodworth, a sophomore, and Maura Phillips, a freshman, are taking the lead in raising awareness and recruiting high school volunteers to ring bells at Kinney Drugs and Tops Friendly Market from Wednesday, Nov. 23 through Saturday, Dec. 24.
“There is a student ambassador representing each grade,” said Hoak. “As you get older you take on more responsibility, and by the time you are a senior you are in charge.”
The student ambassadors are responsible for organizing the bell-ringing schedule, signing up other students as volunteers, setting up and taking down the kettles, and collecting and counting the money raised.
Hoak said about 50 high school students volunteer their time to the cause each year.
“I know the high school students look forward to it every year,” he said on Nov. 14. “Sign-ups are actually being held this week during lunch periods outside the cafeteria. . . Students do receive community service hours for their time, but I know a lot of students who don’t need community service hours and enjoy ringing anyway.”
According to Redmond, the money raised from bell-ringing each year goes to the Salvation Army. However, through its partnership with the Salvation Army, CazCares is able to direct most of the funds back to the local community to help meet the critical needs of Cazenovia area families throughout the year.
“Ninety percent of the money stays in the Cazenovia community and is spent on needs identified by CazCares,” explained Hoak. “For example, the Salvation Army could [help] a family with emergency heating needs identified by CazCares. Another example is the Salvation Army buys all the meat for the Christmas food baskets and 200 backpacks for [the] CazCares back-to-school program. It is an amazing partnership between the Salvation Army, CazCares, and the Cazenovia High School students. The Cazenovia Community is always so generous in helping one another.”
Hoak has been involved with the Red Kettle Drive since his freshman year when he was asked to serve as his class’s student ambassador.
“When I said yes, I did not understand how much it truly helped our community,” he said. “I am honored to be a part of it.”
For more information or to participate, contact Hoak at [email protected].
To learn more about CazCares, visit cazcares.org.
