SPOKANE -- The Salvation Army bell ringer jobs are typically held by low income individuals who are looking for a paycheck, however temporary. But this holiday season the non-profit is seeing a new kind of employee - victims of the bad economy.

The Salvation Army of Spokane says 80 to 90 percent of their bell ringers are given a paycheck and the rest are volunteers. It's a minimum-wage job, but for some it's the only job they'll get all year.

On Friday the Salvation Army held an orientation for this year's group of bell ringers and something was different. In Spokane and nation-wide the Salvation Army is noticing an increase in applicants who were laid off and have been struggling to find work.

Kathy Bazzano used to drive the elderly to and from their medical appointments. It was a job she loved, but when the company went bankrupt back in June she found herself out of work.

"It's very depressing, I cry a lot," Bazzano admitted. "I don't want to lose my home, I don't want to be on the street."

Bazzano says she has tried everything. She wakes up every morning and scours the internet or papers for job openings.

"I walked two miles down Sprague, I went to every single establishment and nobody is hiring, absolutely nobody," Bazzano said.

It's a story Tom Peterson, a retired Salvation Army minister, has heard on countless occasions.

"We have had a lot of people that have been laid off at their jobs and they're relying on this to just get them by," Peterson said.

He was brought to tears thinking about the overwhelming amount of need in the Spokane community. He sees first-hand the effects of the economy on low-income and now some middle-income families, who are applying for the kettle jobs and using the non-profit's food bank.

"When you work for a non-profit you see a lot of the need and when that is extended so greatly as we're seeing now it's really concerning," Peterson said.

For Bazzano the opportunity to ring a bell for the Salvation Army is a glimmer of hope. She says it has given her self esteem a boost and because of that she's formed a plan to turn this temporary job into one that will keep a roof over her head.

"I'm hoping I'll be out there ringing my bell and maybe somebody who owns a business will be coming into the store and I'll just give the right kind of smile or the right kind of hello and maybe he'll just come up to me and say, 'you have a really nice personality are you looking for work?'" Bazzano said.

Bazzano and the rest of the bell ringers will begin work on November 20th.