Fund gives children chance to open presents Christmas morning

Janet Cox, mother of three, said Christmas was looking dim this year before signing up for the Empty Stocking Fund.

Cox said the economic crunch was taking a toll on her family and making it hard to do much for them than make ends meet.

“My husband was unemployed and we only had enough to pay our bills,” she said.

Through the Empty Stocking Fund, Cox was able to provide gifts for her children to open Christmas morning.

“(Christmas) was pretty decent,” she said. “My boy’s (favorite gift) was his Bob the Builder tool box and my little girl’s was her clothes and the other girl’s (favorite gift) was her baby doll.”

She said the best part of the Empty Stocking Fund was being able to see her children smile on Christmas morning.

“(They) were able to open up something for Christmas,” Cox said.

Bradley Callicott, executive directory of the Drs. Bruce and Lee Foundation, which helps support the Empty Stocking Fund, said each year, the foundation awards a $10,000 cash grant to the Salvation Army.

“We have done this for several years now,” he said. “In addition to that, in the last two or three years, we have added an additional offer — if the Salvation Army could match that amount, dollar for dollar, with contributions from the general public,” then the foundation would give an $10,000 to help support families during the Christmas season, so no child in the Pee Dee is left with an empty stocking on Christmas morning.

“We wanted to (give the public an incentive) to donate to this cause,” Callicott said. “If you include this year’s contribution, it would total $290,000 (donated to the Empty Stocking Fund) since we started funding the program in 1997.”

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 can donate to the Empty Stocking Fund in several ways:
• By calling the Salvation Army at (843) 662-4461.
• By dropping off 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.