Be sure to stop by Northbridge Mall this week and visit Salvation Army Capt. Jim Brickson.

We urge you to drop bills or change into his red kettle, but even if you cannot or else gave elsewhere in Albert Lea, we especially want you to chat him up a bit.

See, Brickson is tired. He has been ringing a bell nonstop since 11 a.m. Monday. He needs all of us to keep him going, and he feeds off the support he gets when people stop by and talk.

Most everyone by now knows Brickson is seeking to break the world record for ringing a Salvation Army bell. The record is 80 hours, and he surpasses that mark at 7 p.m. Friday.

He is attempting this record because he cares so much about the mission of the Salvation Army and the good it does in the community.

Will he break the record? And how long can he go? Will he outlast other bell-ringers seeking the record? It all depends on how much help he gets from us.

Go, and by all means talk to him. Please.