You may remember a few weeks back when an anonymous donor dropped a $1400 gold coin in a Salvation Army kettle.

Monday night there were no gold coins, but instead one golden moment beside a red kettle at the Concord Mall in Elkhart. It unfolded after Private Ryan Dobbs decided to give-up a night of his Christmas leave to give back to his community that is fighting through trying times.

No one asked Private Dobbs to stand outside in the cold for three hours. Instead, he came up with the idea one evening in his army barrack. But to say Dobbs got nothing in return, well that would just be inaccurate. After all the saying goes, giving is always better than receiving.

"It's very cold out and we’re still early on in our shift,” Private Dobbs said.

It was just five p.m. with 25 degrees on the thermometer on the front lines of this three-hour military mission.

"It just feels good to be wearing the uniform,” Dobbs remarked.

With an army bag fresh from training and enough camouflage to hide a Christmas tree, Private Dobbs lent a helping hand to his community in need.

"I hate coming back home and seeing my city sad. I just want to do whatever I can to help out,” Dobbs added.

Help to the more than 13 percent of Elkhart County residents that don't have a paycheck to assist in putting presents under the tree this holiday season.

"There are so many people who are miserable here in Elkhart because of circumstances with the economy. But Ryan still loves it here and wanted to do something to help the people,” Private Dobbs’ mother Shannon Ponko said.

With honor written on his heart, Dobbs also pledged to match $250 in donations.

"Since he was very young I told him, ‘You will see the world and do wonderful things,’” Ponko added with a smile across her face.

Dobbs saw the world only to come back home to teach Elkhart the real meaning of Christmas, if only one ring at a time.

"I hope we hit this $250 dollar mark so I can give all my money away. But even if we don't get it, I’ll probably give all my money away anyway,” Dobbs concluded.

After waving his final ring at 8 p.m. Dobbs did in fact donate $250 to the Salvation Army after returning his kettle. Just how much did he collect? Salvation Army rules do not allow money counts at night so the total will not be released until this Wednesday.

After two weeks at home, Private Dobbs will return to Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio on Jan. 2. That's where he'll graduate with his Advanced Individual Training in February before transferring to Fort Drum New York to join the Tenth Mountain Division as a medic.