JANESVILLE, Wis. -- From Thanksgiving through Christmas Eve, shoppers will hear those familiar Salvation Army bells ringing, as bell ringers solicit donations for those less fortunate.

In Rock County, there aren't enough volunteers to ring the bells, a situation that would be bad enough most years. But with this season's rough economy causing more need for the Salvation Army's services, the lack of volunteers is a huge problem, WISC-TV reported.

Delores Thomas and her husband Ronnie volunteer for the Salvation Army outside the Janesville Woodman's. Their holiday tradition is to ring bells for the Salvation Army’s Red Kettle campaign.

"A friend asked me to go along with him and ring the bell, and I said, 'why would I want to do a thing like that? It's cold out there.' 'Well, just come along,' he said, 'And you might enjoy it anyway,'" said Ronnie. That was 16 years ago.

The Thomases have come back every year since.

"My husband and I do this, one on each side of the store because we know they need bell ringers, so why have two at one spot when we can get twice as much money?" said Delores.

This season, the Thomases will volunteer a total of 70 hours ringing bells. But while the Thomases are manning the kettles at Woodman's, other kettles in town are left empty.

"We still have 50 percent of our spaces open. That is a tremendous amount still," said Garry Jensen, kettle coordinator for the Salvation Army in Janesville.

Jensen said only a quarter of the organization’s $285,000 goal has been raised thus far.

It's a goal that will be difficult to reach if kettles go unused.

"The need is really great, as everything has picked up, said Jensen. "We're serving more people in our food pantry as well as our meal site. All the other services we provide have escalated," said Jensen.

The Thomases will do their part, because they know their time volunteering will make the holidays a little brighter for someone else. They just hope they don't have to work it alone.

"Anybody that has the time, please go sign up. Get a couple hours under your belt, and raise some money for those less fortunate than yourself," said Ronnie.

Information on bell ringing for the Salvation Army can be found by visiting their Web site.