Salvation Army, Empty Stocking Fund prepare to help thousands for holidays

The Salvation Army Christmas Bureau is dedicated to giving free toys to needy children. But at the core of the program are thousands of Charlotte families who have lived difficult lives.

To offer compassion along with presents, this year the agency added a new question on the registration form: Would you like to make a prayer request?

Their responses turned out to be one of the most personal, if not heartbreaking surveys yet done of the city’s low income population. Hundreds of parents answered with a resounding yes, detailing problems ranging from lost jobs and potential evictions to special challenges facing their children.

In one case, a single mother filled out five cards, which she wired together, seeking prayers for each of her five children. Among them: “I pray my daughter comes to believe that she is beautiful and that her peers will be kind to her, despite her speech problem. I pray she keeps a kind heart and that she is not taken advantage of.”

Anne Bostancic, manager of the Christmas program, came up with the idea to add the question to surveys this year. She saw it as a way to offer some form of comfort to the more than 6,300 low income parents who registered this year to get toys for their children.

Donations from Charlotte Observer readers to the newspaper’s Empty Stocking Fund will buy toys for roughly half the children in the program, about 6,000. Last year, those donations amounted to a record $374,000.

“The idea came to me when I had someone ask me last year if this was the place where you get free toys, and I thought: Is that all we are? A free-toy place?” said Bostancic.

“I realized we needed to put something back into the program that had gone missing...It’s important that we let these people know there is hope out there, and a better future for them. And someone genuinely cares enough to pray for them.”

The Salvation Army’s new commanders, Majors Larry and Debra Broome, say they have a full appreciation of what the Christmas program has accomplished since inception in 1979. But they also like the idea of working harder at offering comfort to needy parents, even if it’s only supplying a sincere listener or a shoulder to cry on.

“We want it to be...not just the kind of thing where we say ‘Here’s your bag of toys, have a nice day’,” said Major Larry Broome, a Rock Hill native who took over the agency in July.

“I’m not talking about preaching at them...It’s meant to let them know we’re interested in them, beyond just the number of children in their family who need toys. We’re interested in their situation.”

Praying for a job

By far, the most common prayer request was for spiritual intervention in their financial situation, with parents reporting a need for jobs, homes and transportation.

Census data shows 15.4 percent of Mecklenburg County residents live in poverty, with low-paying jobs and cuts in hours. In 2014, a study on upward mobility of children in large metropolitan areas by Harvard University and University of California-Berkeley ranked Charlotte last among the nation's 50 largest cities.

Charlotte parent Donnetta Thomas-Brown admits she was surprised by the prayer offer, but ended up dropping a request into a box that sat on a table during registration.

“I’ve never seen anything like it, but I wasn’t offended. It didn’t have a particular religious connotation,” said Thomas-Brown, who needs help this year with toys because the family is down to just one income.

“I was actually comforted by it. Prayer is universal to all religions. They all pray...And I like the idea that your needs would be their focus for that moment. Sometimes, all we need is a little prayer.”

Her request was among the simplest: She wanted family strength and healing at a time when they have experienced multiple family deaths in the past few years, including parents, grand parents and a godson.

Many of the requests were more complicated, however, including a woman who wanted her vision healed, another that prayed her 8-year-old daughter would get a kidney transplant, and a couple who wanted their son out of prison.

“I want my child to be able to talk,” said one woman.

“My son was raped and I need prayer for strength,” said another mother.

“Pray for my daughter who doesn’t speak to me...I just want the family to be like it used to be, loving and friendly,” said still another.

Then there was the card from a family that recently accepted a job transfer to build a new life in Charlotte.

“We moved from New York...then I got laid off. Then was in a car accident a week later, which caused my fiance to lose his job. We found out a few days later we are expecting a baby,” their card said.

As the requests cards poured in, Maj. Debra Broome suggested putting up a “Prayer Tree” at the Christmas Center, with the cards replacing ornaments. It’s an idea she’d heard of being used by other Salvation Army chapters around the country.

By the end of registration, the tree was covered from top to bottom with the cards.

Larry Broome says it brought tears to his eyes when he read some of the requests “because I realized how small my own problems are by comparison.” The couple are committed to fulfilling the requests even if it takes weeks.

They are already lining up staff and volunteers to help with the prayers.

Giving is coordinated

The Salvation Army’s Christmas Bureau will supply toys for more than 13,000 children this year, making it one of the largest such programs in the Southeast.

Major Larry Broome says it’s bigger than most due to the fact that Charlotte has taken a different approach than many cities, one that has different charities coordinating to make sure they’re not all giving toys to the same families.

The 13,060 children registered this year is down about 500 children from last year, but other parts of the program have increased, particularly the Silver Bells program that provides simple gifts to low income senior citizens. It’s up by about 250 seniors this year.

The bulk of the children registered with the Salvation Army’s Christmas program will have their names placed on Angel Trees at local malls, in hopes that donors will pluck the names off, fulfill the children’s Christmas list, and drop the toys back off at the tree.

On average, about half the children aren’t adopted off trees each year, which means their toys will be purchased with money donated to the Empty Stocking Fund.

The agency’s Christmas Center will begin giving away bags of toys Dec. 17, with 200 families an hour scheduled to visit over four and a half days. Hundreds of volunteers from a variety of faiths and businesses will help pass out the toys.

Debra Broome, who has been a Salvation Army officer for 38 years, notes it will be the first time in 11 years she and her husband have been in charge of a Christmas program of such magnitude. The couple spent the past 11 years assigned to administrative jobs with the Salvation Army in Atlanta.

“We expected this to be a hectic time,” says Debra Broome. “But we both like the idea of being out in the field, where we are touching lives, dealing with people directly, seeing the results.”

Adds husband Larry: “One thing that has not ceased to amaze us since we came here is the overwhelming generosity of people in Charlotte.”

This story was originally published November 27, 2015 at 7:34 PM with the headline "Salvation Army, Empty Stocking Fund prepare to help thousands for holidays."