Stocking fund: Time is growing short to help with holiday party

This weekend, hundreds of children will have the chance to receive a special toy, a stocking and a visit with Santa Claus as part of the 2014 Empty Stocking Fund Party.

If you have never been, you cannot imagine how grateful the families are -- and the thrill that is in the eyes of the children who are part of this special day.

But in truth, all of you are there, every Christmas.

Without the caring of the Wayne County community, there would be no Empty Stocking Fund.

And this year, especially, the fund needs you again.

Providing toys, new clothes and other goodies for so many needy children is not an easy job. It takes a lot of time and effort to collect the money that is needed to purchase the items for the children, many of whom will not see Christmas without your help.

For more than a century, the people of Goldsboro and Wayne County have stepped up to the plate each year to make it possible for needy children to enjoy what we take too often for granted -- that special toy or a new coat or pair of shoes.

Times are not easy. We know that. It takes a special heart to reach down and find an extra bit for someone you don't even know, especially when you are most likely stretched thin trying to take care of your own.

But this is the season for giving, we all say. So if you really mean it, there is no better place to give than the Empty Stocking Fund.

Every dollar donated goes directly to the children who are being helped. There is no overhead. All the work is done by volunteers.

So, if you can, share some of your holiday blessings with these children. It will bring untold happiness to so many little faces. We promise you will not regret it. And it might even make your Christmas a little more joyful.

Published in Editorials on December 9, 2014 11:46 AM