Bette Silvert is a common sight outside Kalispell stores in December.

Bundled up in a winter coat, Silvert stands over a bright red kettle and rings her brass bell. She cheerfully endures cold, wind and snow — all for the sake of the Salvation Army and its annual Christmas kettle drive.

“I boast about the Salvation Army only because they are reaching out to the suffering and needy, and if I can be a small, small part of that huge effort in the world, it’s very important,” Silvert said. “Bell ringing is such a minor thing, but it brings such hope to those hurting.”

Silvert has been a bell ringer for about 15 years — long enough to forget how she got involved in the first place. While she volunteers to ring wherever the Salvation Army needs her, she is usually stationed outside Rosauers or the Kalispell Center Mall.

And every time a bell rings, Silvert’s heart takes wing.

“I have loved being part of this organization,” she said. “It gets stronger and deeper each year.”

Silvert moved to the Flathead Valley 20 years ago. She and her husband, Rob, then a Pan Am pilot, had spent a night in the valley in 1970 and visited Glacier National Park. When they started considering retirement in the late 1980s, the Silverts remembered that long-ago visit.

“This place popped into our minds,” Silvert said, adding, “God brought us out here.”

Before that, the couple had spent 50 years in Connecticut. Silvert stayed at home with their three children until they reached their late teens, then went to work for a veterinary clinic.

“It’s blessed work,” she said. “Caring for animals is important.”

When the couple moved to the valley, Silvert found work caring for the elderly. She became a certified nursing assistant and worked at Windward Place.

Now, in addition to her holiday bell-ringing, Silvert devotes her time to a prayer ministry at the Friendship House assisted-living facility and to volunteer work at Hope Pregnancy.

“Right now I’m wanting to serve the Lord as best I can,” she said.

That has been a priority for Silvert for the last 36 years. She says she became a Christian when she sensed something was missing from her life.

“There was an emptiness in my heart. I longed for more, and I questioned why I was longing for more,” she said. “I had a marriage, a family, so much that the world could give — but God had so much more for me.”

Silvert’s faith transformed her and became the motivating factor in her life. It’s that faith that encourages her to stand in the cold over a bright red kettle at Christmastime.

“I love representing Salvation Army for what they do in this world,” Silvert said.

“I would love to be more involved,” she added. “God asks us to bloom where we’re planted. Right here, I can do the ringing. I want to do all the ringing I can.”

In addition to the opportunity it gives her to live out what she believes, Silvert said she appreciates the fact that the kettle drive is helping people here in the Flathead Valley.

“It brings me such pleasure, because I know it’s helping perhaps my neighbor,” she said. “It’s helping someone who may be right under my nose.”

Ringing bells gives her a chance to smile at people who might need to see a friendly face, Silvert added. It also allows her to witness the generosity of people of all income levels, perhaps especially those whose last pennies go into the kettle.

Some people’s generosity extends to the ringer, Silvert said. In one of her first years standing sentry over the red kettle at the mall, a woman brought Silvert a cup of hot chocolate.

“It was such a heartwarming gesture. I must have looked very cold,” she said. “Most people are very welcoming to bell ringers.”

Silvert urged more people to get involved in the Salvation Army’s kettle drive. This year’s drive wraps up today, but volunteers are needed every holiday season.

Silvert will be back again next year.

“I’m just honored they let me ring,” she said.

Reporter Kristi Albertson may be reached at 758-4438 or at kalbertson@dailyinterlake.com.