She’s a ringer
for Salvation
Army angels
Rose Villa's tinkling toes
By Eloise Aguiar
keep the donations rolling
in as she crochets
Star-BulletinRose Villa, wearing a red apron and as cheerful as Mrs. Claus, sits outside the Kaneohe Longs Drug Store crocheting angels for the Salvation Army -- all the while ringing a bell with her toes to attract donors.
Villa is part of the contingent of volunteers and paid employees who are participating in the Salvation Army's kettle drive at more than 100 locations this holiday season.
Her added touch: selling the angels and contributing the money to the drive.
The angel idea started four years ago to boost interest in the Salvation Army's Angel Tree Program. In the program, people adopted a needy family and provided Christmas gifts. But participation waned because of Hawaii's tight economy, and the program was changed so people now adopt a child, which seems to have increased interest, she said.
The angel sales continued, though, but only where Villa is working. Each year, she designs a new angel. Villa said she has made thousands of them, spending as little as five minutes on the smallest and up to three hours on the largest.She makes three sizes, selling the large angels for $5 and the smaller ones for a penny to $2, depending on the buyer's circumstances.
"Seniors and kids sometimes pay less," she said. "If I see somebody who can't afford one and really wants one, I'll give them away."
The kettle drive -- which began Nov. 24 and ends today -- raises a major portion of the Salvation Army's revenue: some $500,000 statewide last year and $299,000 on Oahu alone, said Salvation Army spokesman Daniel De Castro.
Donations so far this year are down about 4 percent from last year, he said.
"The Leeward and Waianae Coast is significantly lower, but that is offset by increased donations from Liliha to Hawaii Kai," he said.
In recent years, the Salvation Army has hired people to man the kettles because the holiday drive is a main source of funding, De Castro said. Hiring has proved beneficial to everyone and is an extension of Salvation Army's mission to rehabilitate people and train them for work.
"We feel we are creating viable employment for people who otherwise would be underemployed or unemployed," he said.
Villa, 47, is paid to work, but the money she makes from selling the angels goes directly into the kettle.
She said the Salvation Army helped her family in a time of crisis. In the early 1990s her husband, Vince, was hospitalized during the holidays in an intensive care unit for a sudden onset of sleep apnea. The disease causes people to stop breathing while sleeping, and can be fatal.
"The Salvation Army came in and got us organized, helped get the kids in summer camp and got them involved in the Salvation Army (volunteer programs)," Villa said.
Because of that, she, her husband and daughter Vida have been regular bell ringers for the organization for six years -- first at Sam's Club and for three years now at Longs. Two teen-age sons sometimes also help, she said.
Villa also gives away angels to regular donors or to people she thinks need them. And as she rings the bell with her toes, a prayer goes with each, asking it to watch over the person and their families.
