Observer readers pitch in again for Empty Stocking Fund to help Christmas program
Thousands of Charlotte-area children will receive gifts of clothes and toys under the Christmas tree again this year, thanks to contributors to The Salvation Army of Greater Charlotte’s annual Angel Tree program.
In cases where donors don’t step up, Charlotte Observer readers cover the expense by giving to the Empty Stocking Fund, which the Observer has sponsored since about 1920.
Although we’re two years past the COVID crisis, the need is still great, Salvation Army of Greater Charlotte Major Wilma Mason told The Charlotte Observer recently.
The 2022 Angel Tree program is helping 2,610 families in Mecklenburg and Union counties this holiday season, representing 6,660 children, Salvation Army officials said. “That’s a lot of children under the age of 12,” Mason added.
The Angel Tree program is one of The Salvation Army’s most popular efforts. It matches children in need with anonymous donors who buy them presents for Christmas. Senior citizens and people with disabilities also receive gifts.
Last season, Observer readers donated $227,822 to the campaign.
Money raised by the Observer’s 2021 Empty Stocking Fund campaign allowed The Salvation Army to purchase more than 9,270 toys for this year’s campaign, along with the gift cards for seniors, foster children and adults with disabilities.
The 2022 Angel Tree program also is providing gift cards to 1,716 seniors and 436 people with disabilities, according to The Salvation Army.
In 2021, the program served 2,672 families representing 6,804 children. In addition, the program served 1,378 seniors and provided 417 gift cards for foster children and individuals with disabilities.
The number of families seeking assistance this year compares with the pre-pandemic years of 2019 and 2018, Mason said.
Toys and clothing for children and food boxes for the families will be distributed Dec. 16, 19 and 20 at a new site this year, a large warehouse at 2708 Yorkmont Road in Charlotte.
‘Feeling the pinch from the economy’
COVID-induced job losses and cutbacks on hours sent numbers soaring in 2020. The number of families seeking help improved last year, but families were still behind on rent and what they could provide for their children, Mason said at the time.
This year, families face higher food, clothing and other costs due to inflation, Mason said.
“Now they’re just feeling the pinch from the economy,” she said. “I just wish we could catch a break, don’t you?”
Mason and her husband, Todd Mason, are co-area commanders of The Salvation Army of Greater Charlotte. They oversee all Salvation Army programs and operations, including the Center of Hope shelter for women and children, and the eight Salvation Army Boys and Girls Clubs.
Atrium Health helps the effort
This year, every family also will receive a box of food — all paid for by Atrium Health and packed by Atrium Health volunteers.
Due to COVID, families received no food boxes the past two years, and instead received $25 Harris Teeter gift cards.
All 60 to 75 families at The Salvation Army Booth Commons at Mulberry apartment-style complex on Queen City Drive also will receive food boxes, Mason said. Booth Commons houses families experiencing homelessness. Families there cook their own food.
More older adults in need
Due to the economy, The Salvation Army also anticipates serving more “Silver Bells” this year, people 62 and older, Mason said.
“We’re already at 1,600,” she said, referring to the number of people in that age group who’ve requested help from The Salvation Army this holiday season.
“That’s pretty significant,” Mason said. “We expected especially that our senior citizen population would feel the pinch, because they’re on fixed incomes. They just got the slightest bit of an increase with Social Security.
“When prices go up, they’re the ones left hurting, and they get the least amount of assistance when it comes to food,” Mason said.
‘Nobody comes to us on their best day’
Mason said she realizes that rising costs also are impacting people who give to The Salvation Army during the holidays.
“We know that they are feeling a pinch as well,” she said. “But if they could find a way to help, it would be so good for our community, because nobody comes to us on their best day.
“And if people truly had other options for their children, they’d choose the other option,” Mason said.
Her message to the community: “I want to convey with all my hear: Thank you. I get choked up about this because I’ve been doing this a lot of years with The Salvation Army, and I have never lived in a community like Charlotte.
“Charlotte is an extremely giving community,” she said. “When they see a need, it’s amazing, they just swarm in, and people are cared for.”
No matter the economy, she said, The Salvation Army will never “turn anyone away. We’ll find a way to make it happen, because, if a family has five children, and four of them get adopted off a tree, we would never tell a mom, ‘I’m sorry, four of your five children got chosen, you’ll need to figure out the fifth one.’
“What we do is we tell a mom and a dad, ‘Here are the gifts for your children,’ ” she said.
The Salvation Army, through the community and the Empty Stocking Fund, also “supplements the gifts for the ones who didn’t receive anything. So that on Christmas morning, everybody gets to participate in the joy,” Mason said.
How to Give
To donate online, visit 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.
Anyone who prefers not to adopt an angel can still buy a gift for one on Walmart Registry. Walmart will box and send the gift to The Salvation Army of Greater Charlotte.
Questions concerning your donation? Call 704-716-2769.
We’ll publish all the names of Empty Stocking Fund donors.
This story was originally published November 22, 2022 at 5:50 AM.