Life is full of stories. Many of these are based on past personal experiences. These stories often trigger good or bad memories. At the core of the story is a lesson learned. Lately, at the request of my two daughters, I have begun writing reflections from my past so that my kids and grandkids might learn from my experiences. As I write these stories, I am refreshed and see clear lessons that I have learned. I am glad for the stories that comprise my life!
In the opening pages of my book Intentional Living and Giving, I recount a true story that made national news on Thanksgiving Day, 1947. I was three years old then, so I’ve had to rely on others to get all the facts down. This story is worth reprinting here.
The Thanksgiving That Sparked a National Movement
The sleepy town of Grand Junction, Colorado, awoke on Thanksgiving Day, 1947, to a fresh batch of white snow. The crisp, cool air and clear skies gave little indication of the blizzard conditions that had plagued a carload of California radio celebrities the previous night as they lumbered over 300 miles of snow-stormed, icy, winding roads from Salt Lake, Utah. The unexpected late fall snowstorm had grounded the party’s private plane.
These celebrities had left warm and sunny Southern California to fly to Grand Junction for a special Thanksgiving Day dedication of a church bell—a bell that had become, to at least 224,581 people, a symbol of hope and faith in the future. For one woman it was to be the fulfillment of her heart’s desire.
How a Small Church Dream Took Root in Colorado
In 1945, Grand Junction was experiencing a period of building and growth after World War II. This was also true of Columbus Community Church, a small new nondenominational church just south of town that had started in the basement of a schoolhouse. The church fulfilled a dream of a few dedicated women in the Orchard Mesa community to reach neighborhood children with the good news of Jesus.
Though small nondenominational churches have always been considered bad financial risks, this had not dampened the spirits of the few members and their young pastor, his wife, and their three-year-old son. One farmer donated land. Initiating a church-building project, they undertook an innovative approach that would involve the community. Church members went door to door through the area around the church, asking rural neighbors to donate the price of one or more concrete bricks that would be used in the construction of the little church. By taking the initiative with neighbors and friends, they soon found they had the needed funds raised to build a single-room white church building debt-free, with a forty-foot-high steeple pointing heavenward.
The fund drive proved remarkably successful, getting the whole community involved in giving both money and hours of loving labor. On August 3, 1946, the community friends and members crowded into the new sanctuary to hear the young preacher deliver the dedication sermon.
A Church Without a Bell: A Need That Stirred Hearts
In his sermon, the pastor referred to the focal point of the little community church: the white steeple and an empty belfry topped by a simple white cross. He explained that no funds were available to obtain a bell. His one remaining desire was for a bell to ring on Sunday mornings to call the rural community to worship.
At the dedication of the new church, another pastor friend from the city was present to assist. That night, he told his own congregation of the church dedication he had attended and of the one remaining need—a bell for the belfry.
Mrs. Helma Weber was present that evening. As her preacher spoke, God translated that new little church’s need for a bell into Mrs. Weber’s own personal heart’s desire. While traveling home after the service, she felt that desire begin to grow, and as she turned into her driveway, she decided she must take action—first to pray and then to write a letter!
The Letter That Set a Nation in Motion
Among the forerunners of today’s popular television giveaway shows heard in that area was the first nationally syndicated daily radio program, “Heart’s Desire.” It was broadcast by the Mutual Network stations and hosted by Uncle Ben Alexander (who later became a co-star on the TV series Dragnet). Each day, Uncle Ben encouraged his radio audience to drop him a letter, telling him of their heart’s desires.
Helma Weber felt she now had a genuine, God-given heart’s desire. So, late that Sunday evening, she wrote to Uncle Ben and told him about her desire to help provide a bell for a little country church in Colorado. As she completed the letter, she prayed, then sealed the letter and mailed it to Uncle Ben in Hollywood, CA, the next morning.
Her letter caught the attention of the radio team. Later, reflecting upon that moment, Uncle Ben commented, “I knew right then and there that the listeners of our program would want to help give that bell.”
The Rule-Breaking Generosity That Made History
On the next radio show, Uncle Ben read Helma Weber’s letter, inviting his listeners from across America to give. He set only one limitation: the maximum contribution any individual could make was one cent!
And give, listeners did! Pennies poured in! Interest grew. The news media carried the message worldwide, and soon, pennies began arriving from other countries. Uncle Ben began calling them “pennies from heaven.” Each letter contained a penny or more, and each penny seemed to have a special story behind it. In a sense, each was a gift from the heart.
There was a penny from a toddler who went without candy and dessert. Three Norwegian pilots each sent his “good luck penny” with the prayer that peace would always ring over our nation.
There were pennies from the family who thanked God for their miraculous escape from a train wreck, a penny from a mother to thank God for her newborn son, and a penny from a nurse, her symbol of participation in service to humanity. Also in the same batch of mail was a penny sent by a mother who found her gift in the chubby palm of her son after a hit-and-run driver ran him down. There was a letter from a little orphan girl who prayed, “No one ever hearing that bell will ever be as lonely as I am.” Another letter contained 185 pennies—but the letter closed with 185 signatures.
Some listeners, in order to get around the one-cent restriction, contributed on behalf of anyone and everyone they could think of. Two clowns (Fritz and Witz) and their trick dogs sent in nine cents—one cent for each of their dogs and for themselves. One woman sent in a penny for each state she had lived in or traveled through. One man sent in “a penny for myself, a penny for the fellow who forgot, a penny for the one who put it off, a penny for the one who lost the address, and a penny for Ben Alexander.
Creative listeners found loopholes in the contribution limitation, and the pennies kept coming.
People gave because they wanted to—no one HAD to.
The accumulation of pennies bought the copper and paid the craftsman to mold and pour a special copper bell, similar to those hanging in mission towers of churches in the Southwestern states.
On the bell was inscribed Luke 2:14: “Glory to God in the highest and on Earth, peace good will toward all men.” Into this bell has gone the pennies and prayers of 224,581 Americans of over 30 denominations from every county in every state of the nation.”
It’s time to dedicate America’s bell.
Finally, the bell was completed, shipped by private plane to Grand Junction, and proudly installed in a specially built log cabin bell house constructed by donated labor as members of the church hauled trees from the nearby mountains, hand-stripped them, and carefully laid them in place. The bell never made it to the empty belfry in the little steeple; the thousands who gave their pennies to purchase the bell wanted to see their bell!
On that icy Thanksgiving morning, Mrs. Helma Weber and 2,000 other community members bundled up and came to hear the “Heart of America” bell ring for the first time. Uncle Ben and his radio team made it over the dangerous highway from Salt Lake just in time to do an on-location “Heart’s Desire” broadcast from a makeshift wooden platform in front of the little church. While the live audience waited, thousands also tuned in by radio to hear the first ring of the bell that had become their symbol of hope and peace.
The bell rang. Major newspapers gave front-page coverage of the special event. Even True Romance magazine carried a story of one couple’s shattered lives put back together through the ringing of the bell. Governors of 32 states responded with letters and telegrams of congratulations.
Because of one person- 224,581 people gave.
Because one woman stepped out and took action, a God-given desire was planted in her heart, and 224,581 people—if only for a moment in time—gave an expression of themselves for something they viewed as important.
Why did Mrs. Weber write a letter to Ben Alexander? Why did Uncle Ben choose her letter to be read to the nation over the thousands that he no doubt received? Why did 224,581 people choose to send one penny to help buy a bell for a little rural church tucked away in the hills of western Colorado?
If you were listening in 1947, would you have sent a penny? What did you learn from this story? There are six important reasons why people gave. These are listed in the first chapter of Intentional Living and Giving. Autographed books are available from my website, but you can purchase books from any book supplier worldwide. If it is not in their inventory, ask that they stock the book.
