While the four men are begging for money, the wives are out shopping.

"They spend our money while we're here," said Ron Davy, 62, of Blanchard.

Outside Wal-Mart, 373 Benner Pike, Davy and three other volunteers stand on either side of the store, ringing their bells.

The only time the bells stop is when the ringers pause to say "thank you" or "Merry Christmas" to the passersby who leave their spare change.

Jack Hanna, 69, of Beech Creek, has been volunteering for four years with the Salvation Army through the State College Lions Club.

He considers his two-hour shifts, twice during the holiday season, a "civic duty."

"We come up every year and volunteer to help because they have a hard time finding bell ringers," Hanna said. Ginny Knor, director of marketing and public relations for Salvation Army's Western Pennsylvania Division, agreed that finding enough volunteers is a "universal problem."

But she said that online donations help.

"We've had to transfer to online to really come up with the times," she said. "The unique thing about the online giving is you can direct your gift towards a specific community. That really is helpful for the small communities ... that don't have lots of resources."

Hanna said he doesn't mind the relentless sound of the bells as he stands in front of the red kettle.

"I don't even know I'm ringing it," he said. "As old people, we just don't hear too well."

Knor said the weather is a major factor in how much is donated; if it's too cold or if it's raining, people don't stop at the kettles.

"If it's a moderate temperature with soft snowfall, that's when we really do well because it puts people in the spirit, but they're not uncomfortable," she said.

The cold weather doesn't deter Hanna's volunteering.

While the weather has been cooperative this year, in the past, he remembers bundling up against the chilly wind, he said.

"One year, it was so cold," Hanna said. "We actually froze."

He works alongside his brothers-in-law, Dick Weaver, 70, of Beach Creek, and Blair Confer, 73, of Howard.

"I like to help other people at Christmas," Weaver said.

All the bell ringers agree the State College community is rather generous.

"There's people that don't give, but they don't intentionally ignore us," Confer said.

Knor said many places, especially malls, do not allow the bell ringers.

"People complain if they're working in a store all day, and they hear 'cling cling cling,' and we'll respect that. Some stores won't allow us to stand because they have a non-solicitation policy," she said. "A good kettle can make well over $500 a day ... so if you lose a site, it's within the thousands of dollars."

Confer said he sees his volunteering as a "service to the community."

"That's what we do; we help people who need help," he said.

Neeva Skellen, 4, placed a handful of coins into the traditional red pot, but was too shy to talk.

When asked why she placed money in the pot, her mother, Julie, replied for her: "So people could have a nice Christmas."