Ringing the bell of giving for 33 years

The Salvation Army has been a presence on the streets of Seoul for 80 years, collecting donations in familiar red pots. Yang Ung-cheol, above, has been ringing the bell for 33 years. By Park Jong-geun

Most people past 70 are long retired and probably spending the winter season keeping warm. But a 76-year-old Seoul man is still out in the cold weather doing something he loves ― helping others.
Yang Ung-cheol, a retired civil servant, is a veteran Salvation Army bell ringer in Yeongdeungpo, southern Seoul. This is his 33rd winter as a bell ringer since he began volunteering in 1975 in Chuncheon, Gangwon.
“I would like to ring the bell every winter for as long as my body allows,” Yang said. “My body feels cold, but people’s kindness and generosity warm my heart. But this year, I feel a little bit lonely because my wife is not here with me. She’s suffering from arthritis and couldn’t come out this year.”
It was actually his wife who first suggested the idea of volunteering to collect yuletide donations more than three decades ago when Yang was working for the local government in Gangwon.
After moving to Seoul, he continued ringing the bell and roamed around the Yeongdeungpo area and nearby streets to solicit donations, he said.
Yang, who is also actively involved in the Salvation Army as a church elder, later worked at the United Nations office in Seoul and then for the United Nations Fund for Population Activities.
Through his years in the Salvation Army, his admiration for people who drop their coins and bills into the familiar pot to help others deepens.
“I’ve had so many poignant moments,” he said. “A blind man walked up to me and handed me a couple of 1,000 won ($1) bills after fumbling through his pockets, then said, ‘I am sorry, but all I have is this.’ Then there was this elderly lady, a street hawker who sold apples, who donated all of her day’s earnings.”
Yang also spoke of several prostitutes who donated money and also found new lives through the Salvation Army.
Some Buddhist monks have also helped others through the Christian-based charity organization, he said.
Asking for money is easy, he says. The toughest part is the cold weather.
“If I did this for my own good, I would have given up,” Yang said. “When there were not as many volunteers as now, I used to stand five hours a day after work in the cold winter weather. My cheeks would go numb. But now it’s better because I am doing this in an underpass. But even these days, I move around and go out on the streets carrying the pot because I want to meet people with beautiful minds.”
This year the Salvation Army is celebrating its 80th anniversary since it first introduced the red donation pots on the streets of Korea.

By Joo Jung-wan JoongAng Ilbo/ Lee Yang-kyoung Staff Reporter [enational@joongang.co.kr]