Karen Joyce: Blind Bellringer
Despite being legally blind, Karen Joyce finds joy in volunteering as a Salvation Army bell ringer, not letting her disability stop her from helping those in need. “I can’t financially donate, so I donate my time,”she says. “You don’t have to see, you don’t have to hear, you don’t have to walk. You can donate your time and people benefit from it.”
The Harper Woods resident spends two and a half hours on a bus traveling to and from her volunteer shift at the Walmart on Van Dyke in Warren. A self-described morning person, Karen calls the 9 –11 a.m. shift she chooses as “the best part of my day,”though at about 20 volunteer ringing hours each year she says she “still hears bells in February.”
Karen loves bell ringing because she has an opportunity to interact with people in the community and hear their stories. “People will say ‘I donate because The Salvation Army helped me in the past. I can give back now so I am.’” She braves the cold with a heavy winter coat, hiking boots and three layers of socks. After volunteer bell ringing for more than three years, Karen believes, "if you dress warm enough, it's never too cold."
Karen faithfully rings because she believes “every penny counts”and encourages others to "please give your time if you can't give money. If I can do it, anybody can.”