DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM Maj. George Rodriguera stood next to the Salvation Army's automated bell ringer yesterday outside the Salvation Army location at Aala Street and Vineyard Boulevard. The automated bell ringer will debut today.

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Machines ring out
for charity

The Salvation Army turns
to scoop nets and automated
bell ringers to collect gifts

To make up for a shortage of volunteers and dwindling sites for its red kettles, the Salvation Army on Oahu is using scoop nets at street intersections and automated bell ringers to collect donations this holiday season.

The organization was scheduled to unveil an automated bell ringer -- a life-size cardboard cutout of a uniformed Salvation Army officer -- at the Pali Highway Safeway store this morning. The church has two "female" automated bell ringers on Oahu. The officer used as the model for the cutout is not named, but Salvation Army Hawaii spokesman Daniel de Castro calls them both "Sally Ann," sort of short for Salvation Army.

Sally Ann has a motorized right arm that goes up and down to "ring" her cardboard bell. A motion sensor detects when someone places a donation in the kettle, triggering a recorded "Merry Christmas, and God bless you."

Salvation Army churches in the South were the first to use automated bell ringers this year because of a shortage of volunteers to staff the red kettles.

On Oahu, less than half of the bell ringers are volunteers, de Castro said. The rest are paid.

The organization will also send volunteers armed with scoop nets to busy street intersections from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. tomorrow. Other charities in Hawaii have collected donations in scoop nets at street intersections before, but this will be a first for the Salvation Army.

"We're kind of excited," de Castro said, "It's never been done before across the country."

De Castro said the church is making the extra effort because of the dwindling number of locations for its bell ringers, particularly at the major shopping malls. Salvation Army officials learned this year that their bell ringers are no longer welcome in Windward Mall. They were already banned from Ala Moana Center, Pearlridge Center and Victoria Ward Centers.

Retailers across the country have been banning bell ringers, they say, in fairness to other charities not allowed to solicit at their stores.