The Salvation Army in Akron kicked off its Red Kettle campaign with a reminder of why it rings the bell.Clyde Hensley told a Tangier restaurant lunch audience how alcohol and other problems left him blacked out and lying on railroad tracks as a train approached. He was saved by Salvation Army workers on that fall day last year.“The person I am today is a far cry from who I was 14 years ago,” he said.Hensley, 43, told how his father was an alcoholic and his family allowed him to drink in the home soon after he started working in restaurants. He figures he was an alcoholic by the time he was 18.He was fascinated by music and poetry and attended the University of Akron but left to join a band.Along the way he met a woman and they had a baby, but split up. He worked at a motorcycle shop, but that ended in 2002.He was drinking all of that time and described what he called “seven years in blackout.” He became homeless.It nearly ended on those railroad tracks, but the Salvation Army workers got him to safety and on the road to recovery.After detoxification and a lot of prayer, he is back playing music, but it’s Christian rock now. He even has his old job back.“I firmly believe God blesses those who are obedient,” he told a gathering of community leaders and supporters of the Red Kettle campaign.The 42-day campaign has 66 sites in Summit County and is expected to raise roughly $400,000.The Army also honored Anthony Gorant, a lifetime Salvation Army board member and community leader who died Sept. 1.The group’s 2011 Community Medal Award was given to Dorothy Jackson, former Akron deputy mayor and civic leader.Dave Scott can be reached at 330-996-3577 or davescott@thebeaconjournal.com.