Our neighbor, Bell ringer spreads joy all year

WASILLA -- The season of giving doesn't stop after presents have been unwrapped for Valley resident Shanna Emerson.

Emerson said she makes it a point to spend her time helping other people throughout the year, and ringing a bell for Salvation Army donations at Fred Meyer is just one way she helps.

This is Emerson's second year of ringing bells, and she said she is honored to help bring assistance to those who need it during and after this busy season.

"It's something that's helping somebody else out," Emerson said. "You never know how many people you touch [by doing] this."

When Emerson isn't calling out wishes of "Thank you" and "Merry Christmas" to those who stop to donate, she can be found at one of the several local food banks, rebagging and packaging boxes of food for those in need.

She gets fulfillment out of helping make the lives of others more pleasant.

"I'd rather see somebody with a smile on their face, rather than a frown all the time," Emerson said. "It always makes me feel warmer and happier."

Oddly, Emerson may seem to some to be just the sort of person who may need uplifting herself. Her family, she said, has just been through a bout of bad luck that she's hoping will end with the beginning of the new year.

Earlier this year, she said, her father was in a vehicle accident.

A few weeks afterward, her mother was in a vehicle accident as well. But the worst news came on Sept. 11 when, along with the tragedies taking place on the other side of the continent, her parents' house burned down.

The fire affected Emerson as well, she said, as it caused a window in her nearby trailer to break, which, with the recent run of below-zero weather, has made heating her home a tricky, if not expensive, endeavor.

"Hopefully, our bad streak of luck is over," Emerson said, briefly furrowing her brow. "We don't need any more bad news."

But Emerson hasn't let the recent events bring her down -- she has a lilt in her voice and a smile to greet those who walk in the Fred Meyer entrance where she collects donations.

When not ringing the bell, she works on crocheted blankets, often to be given away as gifts, or attends one of the several other ladies' aid organizations that she is a part of.

"Most of the time I'm helping people," Emerson said.

Sometimes, she said, she neglects her own needs while concentrating on the needs of others. That's where her mom enters in.

"She's more than my mom," Emerson said. "She's my best friend, too."

Her mother, she said, provides some needed balance in her life, making sure Emerson takes some time for herself.

That's not to say her work isn't rewarding, Emerson said. She reflected on her bell-ringing work over the past two Christmas seasons and said there were several memories that she will treasure for years to come.

One such incident, she said, involved a "tiny tot" of not more than 4 or 5 years old. The little girl, upon seeing the donation bucket, asked her mother to donate -- to put money in the bucket. Her mother protested, Emerson said, telling the daughter they needed to save the money for Christmas presents.

"You want a Christmas present, don't you?" Emerson said the mother asked.

But the little girl was insistent that money be donated -- even to the point of offering to give her present up in exchange for the donation. The pair progressed into the store, despite the girl's pleading. A few moments later, however, they reappeared before Emerson's donation bucket.

After an apology, Emerson said, the mother made a sizable donation and both walked away with smiles on their faces.

"That's going to stick with me for a long time," Emerson said.