‘Blessing’ of a program helps mom struggling with bills get kids Christmas presents
Iyashia Davis makes Christmas feel special with family traditions.
The single mom and her children bake sugar cookies for Santa, open a gift at midnight and watch movies on Christmas day. Davis serves candied yams, collard greens, ham, macaroni and cheese, potato salad and dressing with gravy.
The one thing Davis can’t provide are Christmas presents for her eight children, who range in age from 6 to 20.
“All my money goes to bills to survive,” said Davis, 39
So she applied to the Salvation Army’s angel tree program for the four younger children. The program serves children 12 and younger.
This year, 8,092 children were registered to receive toys and clothes through the Salvation Army program, which matches children in need with anonymous donors who buy the gifts. Some 1,737 senior citizens also received gifts this Christmas. And 812 gift cards will be distributed to agencies serving foster children and children and adults with disabilities.
In cases where donors don’t step up, Charlotte Observer readers cover the expense by giving to the Empty Stocking Fund. Last year, Observer readers donated more than $156,000 to the Empty Stocking Fund, which the Observer has sponsored since about 1920.
Davis said her position as a commercial billing representative at Spectrum covers car insurance, groceries, rent and utilities but doesn’t leave anything for Christmas gifts. She’s donated plasma and worked as a Lyft and Uber driver to pay for clothes and coats for the family.
“I try to make extra money,” Davis said. “It’s hard. It hurts me as a parent not to be able to do those things.” Without the angel tree program, there would have been no presents for her children this year, she said.
Making a move
In July 2017, Davis said she and her kids moved to Charlotte to escape domestic abuse. With just $150 in her pocket, they piled into her minivan and left Atlanta.
“I cried the whole way because I couldn’t believe I was leaving,” said Davis, a South Carolina native. “We slept in my car that Thursday, Friday and Saturday night. I was in the Salvation Army Hope Center that Monday night.”
She and her children stayed in the shelter for three months before finding a job and a place to live.
Davis’ problems didn’t disappear. Her older son crashed Davis’ car into their living room this year. In June and July, she said, their home was targeted in drive-by shootings. Fearing for their lives, they closed the blinds and turned off the lights at 9 p.m. Davis worked with Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department to try to find the culprits.
“My house got shot up three times,” she said. “I would have my little kids sleep in the room with me, on the floor. They did that for a month and a half.”
Finding peace
Davis and her family moved again. They found a house in a quiet neighborhood in another part of town. The neighbors are friendly and the streets are safe.
“(The children) love it,” she said. “We’re all able to sleep at peace because we all were suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. Everyone was sleeping on the floor, in the dark. If a car came into the neighborhood, our heart started rushing.
“It’s peaceful. If they (the children) couldn’t get anything else, they wanted to be able to sleep in their bed, not having to worry about someone shooting up our house.”
And as the holidays fast approach, Davis is also thankful for the Salvation Army program.
“Angel tree has been a blessing,” she said. “I honestly don’t know how there would be a Christmas without their assistance.”
How to donate
To donate online: EmptyStockingFundCLT.org.
To donate by mail, send checks to: The Salvation Army of Greater Charlotte, P.O. Box 31128, Charlotte, NC 28231. Make checks payable to The Salvation Army of Greater Charlotte and write “Empty Stocking Fund” in the memo line.
Questions concerning your donation? Call 704-716-2769.
We’ll publish all donors’ names.
This story was originally published December 16, 2020 at 6:30 AM.