Empty Stocking Fund helps families provide Christmas gifts to kids
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - The holidays can put financial stress on some families to be able to give their kids a good Christmas.
That stress is made worse this year after Hurricane Helene.
That’s where the Empty Stocking Fund comes in to help, giving parents an opportunity to make their children’s holidays special when times are tough.
It’s a room full of red and Christmas joy.
“We are distributing those to over 510 families today alone,” said CSRA United Way President and CEO Brittany Burnett.
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“They actually go online to a virtual store, and they shop for the gifts that they want. And they think that their kids would like. So, it’s not other people’s guessing what their kids want,” said Burnett.
They make sure that every child has something to open on Christmas day.
“We are expecting over the next two days to distribute gifts to over 1,800 kids throughout the CSRA that would haven’t had Christmas without this program,” she said.
They say this year looks a little different.
“We’ve seen new families apply that we don’t typically see apply for this program before the storm. Maybe these families didn’t need assistance. But now after the storm, these families, there’s not enough money to go around,” said Burnett.
But despite the hardships, no family should have to choose between necessities and Christmas.
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The Salvation Army of Augusta says they have about 1,500 angels currently in need and your help can make a family’s Christmas.
Briana Williams, United Way board member, said: “People wondering if they can even get back in their homes, Christmas has kind of been put on the back burner and obviously you want to make sure your roof is fixed before you think about getting, you know, Christmas gifts for children. And so that need has really increased.”
United Way says after the storm, many people were donating items to help out.
Now, two months later, they have more than 100 volunteers helping distribute gifts.
Quintin Murray, another United Way board member, said: “To take that off of the stress for them trying to aid and assist and making sure that their kids and their families have an awesome Christmas has been amazing for me.”
If you would like to help, you still can.
To donate or volunteer, visit https://emptystockingfund.org/ or https://www.uwcsra.org/.
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