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Their stories are different – their circumstances the same.
Amber Millen's older sister recently died, leaving a husband and six young children – and Millen to help raise them so her brother-in-law can work.
Latricia Borne, single mother of four boys, moved to Charlotte from Brooklyn, N.Y., to get her oldest son away from “the wrong crowd.” She left a job as a school police officer and hasn't found work here.
And Jennifer Morgan “got off track,” had a baby, and now looks after her 2-year-old son, Ethan, as she finishes her criminal justice degree at UNC Charlotte. She plans to go to law school.
Money's tight; Christmas is just a month away. Each had told their children not to expect much.
But, like thousands before them, they ignored pride and lined up at the Salvation Army's Christmas Bureau so their children will have presents under the tree. It's been that way since 1979, when the Salvation Army of Greater Charlotte launched the bureau to provide toys, clothes and gift cards to needy families in Mecklenburg and Union counties.
The Observer is one of many organizations that help the bureau. Each December, through its Empty Stocking Fund, the paper asks readers to help those in need. The campaign has become a holiday tradition that goes back at least nine decades.
The year's needs are enormous. The region's unemployment lingers at 11 percent. Job losses have leveled off, but only after 55,000 jobs vanished since 2008.
“Many more people are reaching out to us and our community partners and asking for help,” said Jim Price, the Salvation Army's development director who helps run the Christmas Bureau. “You can spot the ones who just lost jobs right away. They don't like asking for help.
“But they just need basic things: new clothes, new toys. A bike for a child at Christmas means the world.”
A tradition of serving
Calls from anguished parents began last summer.
Last month, the bureau registered 250 families a day. Last year, it served 11,200 children. When all the gifts are handed out later this month in a former Wal-Mart, more than 13,500 children will get a Christmas their parents can't afford.
To make that possible, the Salvation Army relies on school toy drives, angel trees and volunteers filling stocking.
“We could not do this without the support of the community,” Price said. “There are simply no resources available to provide Christmas assistance on this large a scale without the assistance from the Empty Stocking Fund and other programs.”
The newspaper's effort began in at least 1920, by the Charlotte News.
After the paper closed in 1985, the Observer took over. Now every dime raised goes to the Christmas Bureau.
Since 1988, the drive has raised more than $4.6 million. Last year, it raised $195,547.92. Last month, the fund cut the bureau a check for $200,000.
“We have a lot of confidence in the Salvation Army running this charity,” said Chuck Griffiths, the Observer's vice president for operations and the Christmas Bureau's board chairman. “The years I've been involved, there's been no qualified family that's not been served.”
Deeper appreciation
For Amber Millen's six nieces and nephews, it looked like Christmas would suffer after their mother died last month.
Then Millen marched down to the Christmas Bureau, days after the registration deadline, and told her story.
“I told the kids not to be disappointed about getting just a few things under the tree,” Millen said. “The Christmas Bureau gives us hope.”
The children didn't ask for much: One wanted coloring books. Another a Bible. The oldest, 14, wanted some jewelry and hair bows.
“These kids were raised to expect little and appreciate much,” Millen said.
Latricia Borne struggles to pay the rent. She told her sons to expect little. “I told them I'd make it up when I get a job,” she said.
The Christmas Bureau is doing that for her.
“Every day is a struggle, but my kids are happy and my oldest boy is still alive,” she said. “Now the Christmas Bureau has given me something to look forward to at Christmas – a smile on their faces.”
Jennifer Morgan, a junior at UNCC, raises Ethan on student loans. For now, the bureau is her Santa.
She used it last year: “They gave us a great holiday,” Morgan said. “All Ethan had were hand-me-downs. He got new clothes, a new pair of shoes. It felt so good to give him something brand-new.”
She is moved by the city's generosity. She's determined to give back to the bureau.
“It's really great what they do,” she said. “A lot of people are trying to better themselves and need just a little help along the way.”
