Empty Stocking Fund

Charity thrift stores in the region are counting on a year-end spike in donations to overcome a shortfall believed to be linked to an outpouring of support for Hurricane Sandy victims.

Christmas has always served as a salve for Deandra McGinnis’ family.

Kobe is 3 years old and wants to be a dinosaur when he grows up. His sister, 5-year-old Aja, intends to be a princess.

Debbie Gwinn doesn’t get to see the children’s faces light up when they spot their Christmas presents.

Betty Maxwell is a tough cookie.

There’s not much that Quantrena Falls wants out of life.

Wife and mother Renee Tucker says she has swallowed a lot of pride since being laid off during the recession from an accounting job she held 15 years.

Zetta Williams remembers only the start of the horrific crash four years ago that led to her permanent disability and this sparse Christmas.

Patricia Shavers, a 7-Eleven cashier, says it started Monday morning when a Marine walked into the store and handed her money for no reason.

When Ivanella Alford’s granddaughter didn’t have a winter coat, Alford handed over her own, even though she rides the bus to her job as a hotel supervisor.

Charlie Gayle has worn many hats during his 72 years.

George Ivey Jr. was 14 the first time his father, George Sr., took him to an uptown hotel for a meeting of charitable-minded civic and business leaders who were raising money for the needy.

It may have taken the overflowing crowd of Good Friends a while to get seated Tuesday, but once they’d finished box lunches and heard inspiring pleas to give big, they did – a record big.

When he was about 8 years old, Ben Shaul began accompanying his mother and younger brother to the Salvation Army’s Christmas Bureau to help needy families choose gifts for their children.

Hair combs, cases of multi-colored and glittery eye shadows, hairspray bottles and hand mirrors were strewn across folding tables in a small room at the Salvation Army Center of Hope early Saturday.

Patricia Shavers is 40, happily single and has worked the past 11 years in the high-pressure, low-pay world of convenience stores.

On too many days, Kristi Pauling’s schedule is a blur.

When Alberta Hunter, 76, opens her gift from a stranger she’ll never meet, she will know she hasn’t been forgotten.

In the past decade, they’ve volunteered after hurricanes in the Gulf Coast, after flooding in Georgia and with other needs in the community.

Jessica Chapman of Charlotte will probably set a record for the city this week: 27 hours straight of standing next to a red kettle, ringing a bell for the Salvation Army.

Heather Randolph is hoping Santa will bring her a new home for Christmas. She and her two children have lived in a hotel on South Tryon Street since April.

Anastasiya Steele was born in the former Soviet bloc nation of Moldova and is not shy about saying she’s now married to the most wonderful man in America, a former Marine named Eric from Elkin.

Her name is Tonya Robinson, but when she’s on her Honda CBR motorcycle she is Diamond Princess.

Andrea Smith of Charlotte suspected something was different about her daughter when the then-2-year-old began doing things upside down, like sitting on the couch to watch TV.

Antonio Beatty died in a fight nine years ago and left behind a wife and young family. He was only 27.

A house fire that leaves you homeless for weeks is bad luck. If you’re also between jobs, as was the case with Patricia Prince, it can be a family disaster.

There’s often a sad story behind every one of the thousands of kids registered with the Salvation Army’s Christmas Bureau, but few are as unusual as Alexandra Campbell’s explanation of how she became the guardian of a girl named Rain.

Maj. Bobby Lancaster was appalled at what he saw. A 224-bed homeless shelter had admitted over 420 women and children, resulting in dozens sleeping on floors – even newborns and women as old as 74.