Inspired by mom, Charlotte area college student helps kids in need for Christmas

Caden Sellers already has a lot on his to-do list: The 19-year-old recently moved back to the Charlotte area, takes community college classes online, works a side job and is busy prepping applications to transfer to a four-year degree program.

“My main goal is I want to end up in politics one day. I would love to be a governor or president…” Sellers said, grinning.

Sellers recently moved in with his aunt and uncle in Mooresville to reestablish North Carolina residency for college applications. And alongside his own big goals, he volunteered this fall to help make holiday dreams come true for some local kids.

He and two high school friends raised money to purchase gifts for several children in the Salvation Army of Greater Charlotte’s Angel Tree program. The annual program matches children in need with anonymous donors who buy them presents for Christmas, and provides senior citizens with gifts.

In cases where donors don’t step up to fund the anonymous gifts for the Angel Tree program, Charlotte Observer readers can cover the expense by giving to the Empty Stocking Fund.

Sellers, whose childhood was split between Huntersville, Winston-Salem and Charleston, was inspired by videos he’d watched online of well-off individuals buying holiday gifts for kids.

“It was just lovely to see people who had the money to spare go into Walmart or Target and fill up shopping carts full of shoes and clothes and all sorts of toys,” he said. “I really want to do that, but you know, I’m a college student, so of course I don’t have the money to spend.

“But what I do have is a little bit of time. And if I optimize that correctly, I hope ... I can make just as much a difference.”

Following mom’s example

Giving back has always been important to Sellers, an example he learned from his mom at an early age.

He remembers as a child, growing up in Huntersville, seeing her volunteer at a local soup kitchen. She was a single mother working as a preschool teacher.

“It was just something that I kind of grew up around, that type of generosity,” he said, “and it was never in my mind that you needed to have money to be able to help others out.”

But what he didn’t know until recently is that at the same time she was helping others, Sellers’ mom was facing her own financial challenges. From about the age of 4 to 7, Sellers’ Christmas gifts came thanks to the Angel Tree program and other charitable organizations.

It’s something his mom, who now lives in Charleston with Sellers’ stepdad and half-sister, only revealed after he mentioned plans to sponsor children’s wish lists this year.

“Part of what’s so great about Angel Tree is it’s kept largely anonymous, and part of it is for the kids to never even know that it was donated,” he said. “It’s nice to be able to see the looks on people’s faces when you help them out, but it’s not about us. It’s about them and really being able to believe that their parents were able to provide this for them or these are really gifts from Santa.

“And in a way they are … it’s part of the Christmas spirit to be able to help out other people.”

Supporting Angel Tree through the Empty Stocking Fund

The Observer has sponsored the Empty Stocking Fund since about 1920. In the past six years, the Empty Stocking Fund has raised over $1 million thanks to Observer readers and their generous spirit.

The Angel Tree program is helping more than 1,600 families in Mecklenburg and Union counties this holiday season, including more than 3,600 children, Salvation Army officials said.

In addition to helping kids and their families, the Angel Tree program also is giving gift cards this season to more than 1,400 seniors and people with disabilities.

Money from the 2024 Empty Stocking Fund campaign also bought 4,604 toys for the 2025 effort, as well as gift cards for seniors, foster children and adults with disabilities.

How the friends raised money

To raise funds, Sellers and his friends, fellow college students Logan Johnson and Mark Halagao, asked friends and family to contribute. Sellers also posted updates to his TikTok account, with the goal of inspiring others to get involved supporting Angel Tree, too.

He also applied to Krispy Kreme for permission to run a door-to-door doughnut fundraiser. The young men had used the same program as high school choir students in Charleston to raise money toward the cost of traveling to a national music competition in Orlando.

Through their efforts this fall, they exceeded their original goal of $500, and ended up with more than $750

“We looked online to see if we could get an extra (child’s) list, but there didn’t seem to be any more available,” Sellers said. “So we just spoiled the kids we already had.”

Over Thanksgiving break, they used the money to buy all sorts of gifts for two boys, ages 9 and 14, and an 11-year-old girl.

The kids’ wish lists included shoes, a puffer coat, a bike with training wheels, Minecraft-themed items, swimming accessories, a computer mouse and keyboard, art supplies and a Squishmallow stuffed toy.

Sellers and friends threw in surprise items, too, like LEGO sets and a bike pump.

Making every penny count

Sellers has been touched by the contributions he received from people of all ages. At one house, “I knocked on a door and this dad answered.”

The man had two children with him, including a boy, who was about 5 years old. After Sellers’ explained his project, the child ran inside, grabbed his piggy bank and returned with 46 cents.

“It’s all people just trying to do their best to help out other people, especially in times when people don’t have a lot of money (themselves), “ Sellers said. “Every dollar is a lot to someone who doesn’t even have that one dollar.”

How to donate

To donate online, visit EmptyStockingFundCLT.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 10, 2025 at 6:00 AM.