Empty Stocking Fund helps residents in need

Unemployment, fixed incomes and a prison sentence are making it hard this year for some local residents to provide a cheerful Christmas to four or more children in their families.

The Salvation Army seeks to help those people, in conjunction with the Sun Journal, through the Empty Stocking Fund.

Those needing help include a father who is in prison. He wants to spare his four children the heartache of not having presents this year.

There’s also a grandmother who wants to provide presents under the tree and a special dinner for the four grandchildren she’s now responsible for raising. She hopes to see smiles on their faces.

And there’s a family hit hard by layoffs. The mother and father want to provide a cheerful Christmas with a hot dinner and laughter in their home. For the first time, they are asking for help from the Empty Stocking Fund.

The Empty Stocking Fund has been a part of the Sun Journal for about 50 years. The Salvation Army staff and volunteers, as well as the Sun Journal, are humbled and grateful for the generosity of the people in our communities and businesses. It is with your help that those in need will get the helping hand and lift up they need.

Donations can be made at the Salvation Army’s main office at 1402 Rhem Ave. in New Bern from 9 a.m. to noon, and from 1:30 to 4:30 Monday through Friday; or at the Sun Journal office, located at 3200 Wellons Blvd. in New Bern from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Checks made out to the Empty Stocking Fund can be mailed to the Salvation Army, Drawer E, New Bern, NC 28563, or to the Sun Journal, PO Box 13948, New Bern, NC 28561-3948.

For more information, contact the Salvation Army at 252-637-2277.