For decades, this West Roxbury business owner has mobilized thousands to give with joy

Every winter, you hear them before you see them: The sound of the Salvation Army bells ringing. They offer a reminder that even in the coldest months, generosity can warm an entire community. 

For this week’s Joy Beat, we’re celebrating someone who has been the force behind those bells for nearly three decades. Here’s what one Joy Beat listener had to say about Jim Hennigan of West Roxbury: “He’s mobilized thousands of volunteers for the Parkway Kettle Club’s annual Red Kettle Campaign and raised over $800,000 for the organization. This year’s Red Kettle Campaign theme is Give With Joy, which is great for Joy Beat, and also, Jim embodies joy so perfectly.”

Jim has built a volunteer army of business owners, students, seniors, community leaders and anyone willing to pick up a bell or give what they can. His efforts have helped countless families, and the Salvation Army is now honoring him with the Al McLeod Outstanding Volunteer Award for his extraordinary impact. 

Jim joined GBH’s All Things Considered host Arun Rath to talk more about his nearly three decades of volunteer service. What follows is a lightly edited transcript of their conversation.

Arun Rath: You heard that voicemail nominating you. You’re also now receiving this major volunteer award. What’s going through your mind hearing that and getting this recognition for your great work?

Jim Hennigan: It’s a great honor. I have so much respect for all the people who work at the Salvation Army, and it’s been my pleasure over the past several decades to work with the Salvation Army and to get volunteers in my community — in the West Roxbury community — to come and ring the bell for an hour or a few hours. It’s something that we all look forward to every year.

And we’re about to begin again, starting next week.

Rath: When you started in on this nearly three decades ago with the Red Kettle Campaign, did you think you’d be at it this long? What keeps you coming back to ring those bells?

Hennigan: The first year, I honestly had no idea that this would be an ongoing thing. I just had been watching television and saw that the Salvation Army was having difficulty getting volunteers. And my immediate thought was, “Well, I know I can get volunteers to help out here in the West Roxbury community.”

So, the following day, I contacted the Salvation Army and told them that I was ready to help, and they said, “That’s great. What day would you like to do?” And I said, “We’ll do every day.” And that’s how it all started.

Immediately, once the Salvation Army said that they were all on board with that, I started making phone calls, calling all the people I knew in the community. Every single person I called, without exception, said, “Absolutely. We’re there to help.”

Rath: You’ve now recruited thousands of volunteers over the years. What inspires people to say yes when you ask them to help?

Hennigan: People are well aware of the good work the Salvation Army does throughout the city and within every community of the city, whether it’s West Roxbury or any other community. And it’s that time of the year when people want to help — it’s Christmastime, it’s a time of giving, so people are very excited about it.

It’s become an annual event that people look forward to. So every year, when I start calling, people know. If I’m calling you in December, I’m calling to sign you up for an hour or two of ringing the bell.

Rath: Tell me a bit more about those calls. Say it’s a cold call — someone you don’t know. Imagine I’m a person you’re calling. What’s the pitch you make to me?

Hennigan: I would usually say, “Hi, Arun. You were recommended by a friend or colleague of mine to give a call to because we feel that you might be interested in helping a great community effort.” And then I explain to them [that they have] probably seen people ringing the bell down at Roche Bros. Supermarket in West Roxbury, and we always ask people to just give one hour of their time.

The time goes by quick. We have Christmas music playing very often. People will stop and talk to you. One hour’s time does go by very quickly. Sometimes, the weather may not cooperate, but even then, I tell people: “You can always make it through an hour, no matter what.”

Rath: Great pitch, I want to do it!

You mentioned Roche Bros. in West Roxbury. You had an impact there — a big impact, when they paused Red Kettle Campaign operations after the pandemic. It was your connection with the store managers that helped bring it back, right?

Hennigan: That’s right. We were doing it every year, but then, of course, when the pandemic came, it did shut us down for a few years. It was the store manager who came to me and said, “I really want to get this going again. Let’s make some calls and make sure that we can get this to happen.”

So, with the help of the management of the local West Roxbury Roche Bros., we began again. And it was, you know, the same thing — I started making the phone calls, and people immediately said, “When do you want me to ring?”

Rath: Tell us a bit more about that store. What made that store such an important spot for you?

Hennigan: Roche Bros. in West Roxbury is a very well-known, community-centered store. They support the community. The management team there is just incredible. It’s a very friendly place not only for their customers but also for their employees.

When you walk in there — myself, personally — I just feel like I’m in my neighborhood and feel right at home. Every single day that I’m down there ringing the bell, or a member of my family or a member of the community, everybody talks about how good Roche Bros. supermarket is to the West Roxbury community.

Rath: What are the kinds of things you’ve heard from some of the people you’ve conscripted into this wonderful army over the years that really sum this up for you — the joy of it?

Hennigan: It’s really incredible because people, especially when they do it for the first time or the first few times, walk away with such a good feeling about what they’ve done. You know, again, it’s 60 minutes. It’s only an hour. But it gives a person, whether they’ve done it once or they’re doing it year after year, they always feel good that they’ve done something to help people out.

A lot of times, someone ringing the bell will get a story from someone who’s donating and they’ll tell them how the Salvation Army helped them out when they were having hard times. So it’s something that is rewarding to the people, not only those who obviously received the benefits from the Salvation Army, but it is very rewarding to the people who volunteer. They get a great feeling from doing something good.

If you’d like to make a nomination for the Joy Beat, leave us a voicemail at (617) 300-BEAT [2328].