Charlotte mom grateful she won’t need to choose between rent or kids’ holiday gifts now
Volunteering and giving back to the community are values that Charlotte resident Brandis Mitchell lives by.
“I’ve been doing this since I was a little girl,” Mitchell said. “It’s just something that she … instilled and I kept it going.”
The Portland, Oregon, native grew up in Ohio, and started volunteering as a child alongside her grandmother. She served meals while her grandmother cooked and cleaned for the local Salvation Army’s soup kitchen.
Mitchell moved to Charlotte nine years ago to help care for her grandfather. She was also confronting her own challenges at the time, including a domestic violence situation and homelessness.
Since her grandfather’s passing, Mitchell has been on her own in Charlotte, raising her two daughters — Maudessia, 14, and Avayah, 12 — and her 11-year old son, Robert.
She recently transitioned into a new job, cleaning apartments and AirBNBs. The position allows Mitchell to work during her children’s school day and the flexibility to better care for her son, who has severe asthma, and sometimes has to miss weeks of school when he’s ill.
But money is tight so Mitchell has turned to a familiar source for help — the Salvation Army.
About Angel Tree and the Empty Stocking Fund
Like thousands of area children, Mitchell’s kids 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.
Among The Salvation Army’s most popular efforts, Angel Tree 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 $143,681 to the campaign.
The Angel Tree program is helping 1,627 families in Mecklenburg and Union counties this holiday season, representing 3,850 children.
Money raised by the Observer’s 2023 Empty Stocking Fund campaign allowed The Salvation Army to purchase more than 6,100 toys for this year’s program, along with the gift cards for seniors, foster children and adults with disabilities. The Angel Tree program also is providing gift cards to 1,261 seniors and 277 people with disabilities, according to The Salvation Army.
Mitchell said she’s grateful for the program. Without it, she’d likely struggle to buy presents for her kids.
“To be honest, as a single parent I have had Christmases where… it was either rent or gifts,” she said.
“And my oldest daughter, I love her dearly because she’s never questioned me. Like, it was never, ‘Well, why did this person get this or why--?’ No, it was ‘Mom, thank you for this.’ ”
The family also participates in The Salvation Army’s housing program. For a couple of years, they lived in a hotel run by the organization. About three years ago, they qualified for their own home.
“It’s a blessing because with ups and downs and with kids in life … you never know when you’re going to fall,” Mitchell said. “And I know that, in a way, if I fall, I know I’m going to have some struggles but I won’t struggle as hard as a single parent.”
As part of the program, a social worker comes monthly to their home to check on the family and share information on available resources. That’s how Mitchell learned about the Angel Tree program, which the family has participated in for the last few years.
For Christmas, Robert has asked for a skateboard or any kind of sports ball and Avayah would love a Barbie DreamHouse.
Maudessia has now aged out of the program, which provides gifts to kids age 12 and under. Mitchell said in the past some donated gifts for Avayah ended up being better-suited for her older daughter, and she was able to redirect something her way.
How the family will celebrate
During the holiday season, the family has a tradition of helping out with special meals for residents in the senior living community where Mitchell regularly volunteers.
“If you walk in Senior Village, you’ll see pictures of my kids serving,” she said.
On other days at the facility, Mitchell leads arts and crafts activities, helps drive residents to the grocery store or accompanies them to doctors appointments.
But on Christmas, the family will spend a relaxed day together at home with the family dog, eating cookies and snacks.
Maudessia enjoys cooking and likes to make a new dish from around the world each year for the family to try. She also helps her mom make a big Christmas dinner — a meal that always includes Mitchell’s grandmother’s special sweet potato pie recipe.
Mitchell allows Maudessia to invite a couple friends over, too, to hang out, enjoy the food and listen to Christmas carols.
The family also celebrates Kwanzaa, the seven-day African American and Pan-African celebration that focuses on history, community, and a specific cultural value each day. These include principles like unity, creativity, and collective work and community. The festival will run from Dec. 26 to Jan. 1 this year.
“I make them celebrate Kwanzaa because (of) the meaning behind it,” Mitchell said. “I need them to learn how to go in the community and share, how to build, how to be nice, you know, like kindness and you never know where you’re going to go or where you’re coming from...
“You keep giving a hand and you go about your day. Because that’s how the world works and I need them to know that humanity and compassion and kindness is how the world turns.”
How to donate to the Empty Stocking Fund
To donate online, visit Empty Stocking Fund CLT.org.
To donate by mail, send checks to: The Salvation Army of Greater Charlotte, PO 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 704-334-4731
This story was originally published December 11, 2024 at 5:55 AM.