A 'servant's heart' sets tone for bell-ringing senior project

Picking a senior project was just like ringing a bell for Caleb Garcia.

Since 2013, the 17-year-old has been involved with The Salvation Army, so being the volunteer coordinator of the nonprofit's Red Kettle fundraising effort made perfect sense.

Born in Indio, California, in the Coachella Valley, Garcia grew up in southern part of the state around Los Angeles, where there's no shortage of people in need. His mother, Lt. Rosie Tollerud, of The Salvation Army, said her son was always ready to help where needed.

"The church we came from, he started serving Thanksgiving meals," she said. "That was our big thing. There were so many people in need, and waking up early to do that, he didn't see it as a sacrifice. He really wanted to help people."

Garcia took on the position of kettle coordinator for the annual fundraising event that takes place from Dec. 1 through Dec. 31. He recruited and scheduled volunteers to ring a bell at Wrangell IGA and City Market, counted the donations and made the deposits. He oversaw eight individuals, two families and Evergreen Elementary students who volunteered to ring bells.

"Some of (the volunteers were returning) but his idea was using the elementary school and it worked well," said Lt. Jon Tollerud, Garcia's supervisor for the senior project. Garcia also enlisted the help of fellow high school students.

The efforts paid off, bringing in $14,518 from the kettle donations.

Jon Tollerud said that amount is the highest it's ever been in Wrangell, $370 more than the previous record that happened the year before. "The three Christmases we've run it, it's gotten significantly better."

He said Garcia's personality lends itself to fundraising work.

"He has always kind of had a servant's heart, always wanting to help even people who were in better situations than him," Jon Tollerud said. "He still wanted to help and encourage them. He didn't even second guess that he wanted to use The Salvation Army as his (project), so he asked us what options there were."

Being in a small community for only a couple of years, Garcia was pleasantly surprised by the abundant giving of Wrangell.

"It makes me happy," he said. "The big thing is the older population likes seeing the younger people volunteering."

Bob Davis, Wrangell High School's assistant principal, said volunteerism is a large part of what the school wants to see in its students. "This community steps up with volunteering and we just want to continue that. I think (senior projects are) a way the school can help facilitate that."

Garcia said it takes a mixture of people not only giving their money but their time to make a difference.

"In a small community, you need a mixture of that. I guess in every community, really, but you need people who are willing to use their hands and people who are willing to use the money they have," he said.

It's that hands-on approach that is directing Garcia's future endeavors. He has enlisted in the U.S. Air Force, waiting to hear when he'll ship out after graduation. He's still not sure what he'll be doing, but he knows it will be something in logistics or working with his hands in some facet.

"He likes to keep busy," Rosie Tollerud said. "He started working at IGA and right away he's working, working, working. He prefers just to be busy. It doesn't matter if the workload is hard, which is good."

After serving four years in the Air Force, Garcia is looking to attend school in the arts in some way. He's not sure if that will be as an illustrator, musician or filmmaker, but it will be creative. "I just want to make anything," he said.