The Richland County Sheriff’s Department raised over $1,800 in a single day this year<\/i><\/p>\n
By W. Thomas Smith Jr.<\/i><\/p>\n
FOR THE FIFTH YEAR IN A ROW, Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott and deputies with the Richland County Sheriff’s Department (RCSD) were out in force ringing the bells for the Salvation Army from 10:00 a.m. through 7:00 p.m. at the northeast Columbia location of Walmart, Thursday, Dec. 4: Sheriff Lott’s shift, which also included deputies regularly featured on the hit TV series On Patrol: LIVE, was from 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.<\/p>\n
“This has become a regular Christmas tradition for us since 2021,” said Lott, who prior to the 2023 Kettle Campaign received the Salvation Army Bell-Ringer Commendation Award after his RCSD set fund-raising records in 2021 and 2022. “We love it. Shoppers love it. Kids love it. And that’s what it’s all about: Bringing as much cheer as possible into the lives of others.”<\/p>\n
Lott adds: “It’s also interesting seeing how many people give and who gives. Nearly everyone gives. Everyone wants to give.”<\/p>\n
Giving indeed. Lott’s RCSD also set single-day fund-raising records in 2023 and 2024. This year, RCSD raised a total $1,861.42 in a single day. Is that number a record as in previous years? The tallies have yet to be finalized – and won’t be until after Christmas – but any amount above $500.00 is considered “a very good day,” according to Salvation Army officials.<\/p>\n
– A Midlands-area family is pictured with Sheriff Leon Lott and RCSD Sgt. Bryce Hughes ringing the bells earlier this month. In the background is Salvation Army Major Mark Craddock.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Richland County Sheriff’s Department raised over $1,800 in a single day this year By W. Thomas Smith Jr. FOR THE FIFTH YEAR IN A ROW, Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott and deputies with the Richland County Sheriff’s Department (RCSD) were out in force ringing the bells for the SalvationContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7889,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[44],"tags":[261,235],"class_list":["entry","author-john-griggs","post-7888","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-public-safety","tag-salvation-army","tag-sheriff-lott"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/gpstrianglenews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Sheriff-Lott-rings-the-Salvation-Army-Bell_2025_630x350.jpg?fit=630%2C350","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7888","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7888"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7888\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7889"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7888"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7888"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7888"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}