Bell curve

Charity | Donations are becoming harder to get and kettle-keepers harder to find for the venerable Salvation Army | John Dawson

DALLAS — Tillie Enriquez shakes her jingle bells as a young Asian girl approaches with a few coins. Even before the girl can find the cross-shaped hole in the red kettle, Ms. Enriquez thanks her: "May the Lord bless you." Before the girl walks away from the Salvation Army kettle, Ms. Enriquez adds, "You may have a candy cane if you like." The child does.

Ms. Enriquez, a retired school teacher from California, is the marathon woman of North Texas Salvation Army kettle ringers. On Nov. 20 she suited up in her blue uniform for the first time this year and hit a local mall with her bells, kettle, and candy canes. If 2004 is anything like 2003, she'll volunteer for about a dozen three- to seven-hour shifts in the weeks before Christmas.