A Face In The Crowd
That dinging sound you hear doesn’t mean it’s time for dinner. Instead, Salvation Army volunteer Peggy Corbitt is ringing that bell so someone less fortunate can enjoy a holiday meal. But be leery of jingling imposters. “You don’t want to give your money to just any sidewalk Santa,” she says, flashing her official Salvation Army badge. “You need to find out where it’s going.” Peggy’s kettle proceeds fund the Angel Tree program, which provides holiday meals and gifts to thousands of needy Middle Tennesseans. But donations aren’t her only focus. “My number one objective here is to lift up the name of Jesus,” she says. “I feel like the money will come. God will provide the money.” Peggy is also a member of the Salvation Army church and has been since she was a teenager growing up in North Nashville. That’s when she first became a bell ringer. Married at 17 (and still happy 45 years later), she abandoned holiday fund raising for child rearing and working full-time, but remained active in the church—teaching Sunday school classes and even quilting groups. Five children, 11 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren have kept her busy, to say the least. Now retired, Peggy is ringing her bell again. Outside the H.G. Hill in Hendersonville, where she worked for 27 years, she greets old customers and co-workers, as interested in their problems as the task at hand. Some contributors tell Peggy their own concerns, and she keeps their names in a notebook by her kettle so she can pray for them—no small return on their investment, perhaps.
— Jonathan Harwell Jr.
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