Joy of Christmas

Minnesota National Guard Sgt. Lacy Hennessy has found a way to make up for a back-home Christmas tradition — ringing a bell beside a Salvation Army kettle as she’d done in holiday seasons past.

Hennessy is serving as a virtual bell ringer with an “online red kettle.”

“My friends and I always had fun with it, singing Christmas carols and being goofy,” Hennessy wrote in an e-mail from Iraq. “I love to see generous people throwing even just some change in the kettle because it all adds up.”

The Online Red Kettle drive augments the Salvation Army’s annual bell-ringing campaign, which raises money to provide housing, clothing, food, toys and other aid to the needy. Around 25,000 bell ringers are out on any given day during the holiday season, and they collected an estimated $111 million last year.

The sergeant set a goal of $3,000 for her kettle. She was $715 away from that goal as of Tuesday morning. Hennessy’s campaign ends Dec. 31.

You can donate to Hennesy’s virtual kettle by going online to www.onlineredkettle.org and using the search function.

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