NATCHEZ — Soldiers have different tools for different tasks. Some have guns, others bombs. But soldiers in the Salvation Army wield handbells.

The dinging of the bells rung by volunteers standing at kettles soliciting donations for the Salvation Army has become a Christmas tradition, but the hybrid church-charity does work in Natchez all year round.

In addition to operating a thrift store located on North Canal Street, the Natchez branch of the Salvation Army offers rental assistance, energy assistance and help getting gas hooked up for those in need, Divisional Service Extension Field Representative for Mississippi and Louisiana Suzzette McMillan said.

Likewise, the Army offers clothing to victims of fires.

“If the items are available in the store, we provide some startup items like dishes, sheets and other things for fire victims,” McMillan said.

In addition to the seasonal red kettle collection, the Salvation Army is focusing work on its Angel Tree program, in which donors can pick a paper angel off of a tree that has the needs and wants of a needy child listed on it.

Once the donor makes the purchase, they donate it, and the gifts will be distributed on Dec. 21, McMillan said.

The Angel Tree is located near J.C. Penney in the Natchez Mall.

Online donations to the Salvation Army’s Angel Tree can be made at angel.jcpenney.com.

But don’t forget to donate to the red kettles.

“The kettles are doing very well, and I want to thank the Natchez community for responding so well to those,” McMillan said. “That money goes back into the community. That funding is kind of like savings, and we pull from it throughout the year when we need it, but that money is put back into Adams County.”

In addition to donations in the form of cash and thrift store donations, McMillan said the Salvation Army is in need of volunteers to sort the clothes and get them in the store faster, and volunteers to ring bells at the red kettles.

And when people donate to the Salvation Army, McMillan asked that they donate during the store hours, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, because it makes it easier to get merchandise into the store more quickly.

For more information about the Natchez branch of the Salvation Army, contact McMillan at 601-572-6076.