Serving as Salvation Army bell ringer changed this UPS driver’s outlook on Christmas

BLACKFOOT – The spirit of giving is alive and well for many eastern Idahoans at this time of year, but for Paul Bingham of Blackfoot it’s especially vibrant.

Those who know Bingham will recognize him as a UPS driver. It’s a job he’s had for more than 30 years. During the holiday season, he can be seen on his time off standing outside a local business ringing a bell for the Salvation Army.

“I’m just a volunteer. I have my regular day job, but I do what I can when I have the time,” Bingham tells EastIdahoNews.com.

Bingham’s been doing it every year for the last eight years.

Finding the time to do it is no simple task when most UPS drivers are slammed this time of year making sure Christmas deliveries are on time.

“The amount of deliveries and volume that we push on Saturday is very limited,” Bingham says. “I normally don’t work Saturdays at all and often times, I have a good helper. When I make good time and can get off a little bit earlier, I like to stop at Walmart or another store on my way home and ring the bell for an hour or two.”

But even if there’s time on the weekend, a question many people would ask is why anyone would want to use their day off to help someone else rather than spend time with their family. For Bingham, the answer is simple — get your family involved in it, too.

“Our kids and I will usually try to do it on Christmas Eve and be the last (on-duty volunteers out that night),” Bingham says.

Bingham says this family Christmas tradition was born out of a desire to feel the Christmas spirit.

“It’s hard to feel the Christmas spirit and to feel like you’re contributing to the community when you’re so busy just trying to do your job.”

In Dec. of 2012, Bingham says this desire for more Christmas spirit had been weighing heavily on his mind for several days. He came home from work one day and came across a Hallmark Christmas special on TV called “Silver Bells.” The film tells the story of a man who is forced to do community service after breaking a referee’s nose during his son’s basketball game. He’s assigned as a bell ringer for the Salvation Army. What starts as a drudgery ends up ultimately having a profound impact on him and changes his outlook on life.

“At the end of the movie, I thought that’s something I could do,” Bingham says.

Bingham signed up to help for two hours the next Saturday. He showed up for his shift and ended up doing it all day because there was no one there to take over. The same thing happened every Saturday until Christmas was over.

“I was glad to do it,” Bingham says. “People gave and it was tremendous, but there wasn’t anyone to stand out there and ring a bell.”

Bingham returned the next year and went door-to-door in his neighborhood to recruit more volunteers. He reached out to local churches and helped create a website to make it easy for people to sign up.

The number of volunteers and the amount of donations has increased exponentially every year, Bingham says. He helped raise more than $3,000 that year and $12,000 the next year.

“This last year, we raised a little over $20,000,” he says.

Bingham says volunteering as a bell ringer every year has changed his outlook on life and filled him with the Christmas spirit more than he ever thought possible.

He pinpoints one experience during his first year that motivates him to keep doing it.

“I was over at Ridley’s Family Market (in Blackfoot),” Bingham says. “There was a lady that pulled up in a vehicle. It was a vehicle that was almost to the point where it shouldn’t have been on the road. She was quite older and she had an oxygen tank.”

The lady didn’t want to get out of her car, Bingham says, but she pulled up and asked if he would put her money in the bucket.

“I looked at it and it was a $20 bill,” Bingham says, tearing up. “She was the one that should’ve been helped, but she was the one that was helping.”

Bingham says it warms his heart to know that volunteering with the Salvation Army is becoming a tradition for many families in the Blackfoot and Pocatello area and he’s inviting you to get involved wherever you live.

“We all have something to contribute. There’s no one certain way, but if we look for those opportunities there is a satisfaction that comes from doing something to help other people,” he says.

To make a donation or volunteer, call the Salvation Army in Idaho Falls at (208) 522-7200 or in Pocatello at (208) 232-5318. You can also click here.