Empty Stocking Fund a relief for mother

Money and time are two things Lorrine Williams just doesn’t have during the holidays.

Looking for jobs takes up the time other people would use for Christmas shopping, and the unemployment check she receives each month is not enough to buy the gifts her children want.

“My daughter, she wants earrings, and my son, he wants a PSP wrestling game. He’s really into wrestling,” she said.

The Empty Stocking Fund was a welcome relief, Williams said.

“A lot of people are trying to find work, the economy is bad and the little money that unemployment gives — I don’t know how the kids were going to have Christmas,” she said.

This is Williams’ first year participating in the fund. She found out about it from a friend.

“It is a humongous help,” she said.

The Empty Stocking Fund has been providing relief to needy people for 27 years. It is a joint effort between the Salvation Army and the Morning News to bring Christmas to impoverished and low-income families in six Pee Dee counties.

The fund recently received a $10,000 donation from the Aiken Foundation, a philanthropic organization run by the Aiken family. The $10,000 donation is an annual gift given by the foundation.

People who would like to help families struggling through the holidays can donate to the Empty Stocking Fund in several ways:
• By calling the Salvation Army at (843) 662-4461.
• By dropping off toys or monetary donations to the Salvation Army office building at 2210 Hoffmeyer Road in Florence.
• By giving monetary donations at any Florence BB&T bank branch: 605 S. Irby St., 1831 W. Evans St., and 407 W. Second Loop Road. Checks should be made payable to the Empty Stocking Fund, c/o Salvation Army.

Other ways to help the Salvation Army make Christmas brighter for those in need include:
• Donating at a Salvation Army Christmas kettle.
• Donating new, unwrapped toys for children through age 12, which will be distributed from the Salvation Army’s toy shop Dec. 23. The Empty Stocking Fund not only accepts monetary and gift donations, but also food and clothing.
• The Empty Stocking Fund form can be found on Page 5A of Thursday’s Morning News.