It’s a little after 10 a.m. on Thursday, Dec. 15, and Lt. Matthew Jensen is standing outside the Foods Co. on Broadway, talking to someone on his cell phone.
“The bell’s already driving me nuts. I’m going to be dreaming of it,” he tells the person on the other end of the line, who presumably suggests that he wear earplugs.
“I want the full experience,” he says with a laugh before saying goodbye and hanging up.
Throughout the conversation, Jensen has been ringing a little red bell, the sound of which has become synonymous with the Christmas season. An officer of the Santa Maria Salvation Army, Jensen is one of 27 people nationwide attempting to break the world record for continuous bell ringing.
Contestants must ring non-stop for at least 36 hours. During that time, they’re not allowed to sit down or eat, though they are allowed to drink water, juice, and other liquids. They only get a 10-minute bathroom break every four hours.
“The first time I heard about [the competition] I thought, ‘That’s insane. There’s no way I’m going to do it,” Jensen says.
And yet, here he is, standing in front of a Salvation Army kettle, a brand-new pair of comfy Crocs on his feet and a suitcase full of Vitamin Water at his side.
“When I heard that kettle donations were down 20 percent, I knew I had to do it because I’ve been seeing more people coming to us for help than ever before,” he explains. “I want to be a symbol of our commitment to serve the neediest in our community.”
And Jensen is truly committed to the cause.
“You have to be ringing 24 hours, even when you’re using the bathroom,” he says. “I haven’t tried it yet, but I think I’m going to put [the bell] in my mouth.”
He says standing out in the cold and ringing a bell is more than worth it because all funds donated to the kettle program stay local and go toward Salvation Army social services, such as its daily hot lunch program. Money also goes toward grocery assistance and rent and utility assistance to those in need.
His goal is to break the world record of 36 hours and set a new record of his own.
“I want to go 60 hours,” he says, adding that he’s competing against three friends and fellow Salvation Army officers.
To prepare for the competition, Jensen has been staying up two days in a row and practicing standing for long periods of time.
“I have two little girls: one’s two months and the other one is two years old,” he says. “My newborn has been very courteous in training me to stay up all night.”
The next day
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It’s about noon on Friday, Dec. 16. Lt. Jensen is approximately 27 hours into his bell-ringing mission. When a Sun reporter stops by to see how he’s doing, Jensen smiles and says—talking over the tinkling of the bell and through the aroma of chicken wafting over from the Foods Co. deli—that he feels “like Pavlov’s dog.”
“But I’m doing good. I started to fall asleep around 3 a.m. but somebody came and talked to me for a bit, which helped,” he says. “I had my big jacket on and a scarf wrapped over my head. I looked like an Eskimo.”
He says he’s been touched by the amount of support he’s received from the community. The Salvation Army has sent volunteers to check on him every few hours, and some carolers even stopped by to offer him some entertainment.
“I really think I can do it,” he says.
Just another 33 hours to go.
Monday
The Sun calls Jensen the morning of Dec. 19 to see how he did. He answers on the third ring. He describes his experience while feeding his daughter breakfast.
“It went pretty good, but my body just started to stop,” he says. “I beat the world record and went on for another five hours.”
His grand total of nonstop bell ringing? Forty-one hours.
“I was one of the last ones [to stop],” he says. “Two people made it all the way to 60 hours.”
Still, Jensen seems happy with his accomplishment.
“I’m recovering pretty well,” he says. “It still hurts a little in my joints, but I feel pretty good.”
Contact Managing Editor Amy Asman at aasman@santamariasun.com.sun.com.
This article appears in Dec 22-29, 2011.