Help this holiday season
The Empty Stocking Fund returns to help community members in need.
For nearly four decades, hundreds of people in the Santa Fe area have been contributing to a holiday fund that helps their neighbors in need with one-time financial assistance — a single father who needs a month’s worth of rent after a summer flood destroyed his home; a couple struggling to find work and unable to pay for car repairs; an elderly woman caring for an adult son who is undergoing cancer treatment, with medical bills mounting.
The Empty Stocking Fund, a project of The Santa Fe New Mexican that is administered on a volunteer basis by several community partners, has raised more than $200,000 in each of the last three years and has provided aid to more than 200 families annually.
Some donors give just a few dollars, while others contribute thousands. Schoolchildren often pool their pocket change to aid the campaign, and the New Mexico School for the Deaf has made a tradition of collecting donations for the fund during its holiday student talent show. Every dollar counts in a struggling economy; last year’s campaign, which saw donations drop to about $217,000 from over $242,000 the year before, also saw the number of applications rise to 865 — a 50 percent increase. The money raised ran out quickly as organizers filled the community’s pleas for help.
“Donating to the Empty Stocking Fund has been something that we’ve done since I was a classroom teacher in 1993-95 here at New Mexico School for the Deaf,” said Keri-Lynn McBride, the school’s director of development and public relations.
McBride said the school chose the Empty Stocking Fund because it was established to help those in need over the holidays.
“We were looking for something that would have a positive impact on others in the Santa Fe community,” she said. “We wanted students to experience the importance and power of giving back and making a difference in the lives of others.”
This year’s Winter Variety Show will take place at 6 p.m. Dec. 21 at the James A. Little Theater, 1060 Cerrillos Road.
But the Empty Stocking campaign isn’t just about money, organizers say. It also helps connect applicants with other community services, such as home repairs, college tuition assistance, rides to medical care appointments, and used cars or car repairs. It also can help applicants get a better handle on their budgets through
financial management training.
The New Mexican’s partners in the 2017-18 Empty Stocking project include The Santa Fe Community Foundation, Los Alamos National Bank, The Salvation Army, Presbyterian Medical Services, The Life Link and Santa Fe resident Linda Zingle.
Roberta Duran, an executive administrative assistant at Presbyterian Medical Services who has been reviewing applications for the Empty Stocking Fund for 13 years, said many of the people seeking aid are facing dire circumstances. “I have to admit,” she said, “that I am sometimes overwhelmed by the difficulties many of our applicants have experienced. …
“The job can be emotionally draining,” she added, “but I must admit that there is a great deal of satisfaction in knowing that I have played a part in helping disadvantaged families and individuals to get through the holiday season.”
Each day throughout the holiday season, The New Mexican will publish stories featuring requests for assistance from the Empty Stocking Fund and a list of those who have contributed.
So far, organizers say, 280 applications have been submitted, and only 550 will be accepted this year.
Those who wish to contribute to the fund can make a taxdeductible donation online at www.santafenewmexican.com/ empty_stocking. Checks also can be mailed to The New Mexican’s Empty Stocking Fund c/o The Santa Fe Community Foundation, P.O. Box 1827, Santa Fe, NM, 87504-1827. Donors can request to remain anonymous.
If you can provide a service such as roofing or home repairs, call 505-983-8968.
If you can contribute food, clothing, toys, housewares, furniture, firewood, or other items or services, call 505-988-8054.
If you donate online in honor of a friend or loved one, a custom e-card can be sent from the Empty Stocking Fund to let them know about your contribution, courtesy of the Santa Fe Community Foundation and InSight Foto.
Applications for help must be received by 5 p.m. Dec. 8 to be considered by the Empty Stocking Fund Committee. Those who have received aid from the fund within the past four years will not be provided aid again this year.
Applications can be submitted online at www.santafenew mexican.com/empty_stocking. People who do not otherwise have access to the internet can go to any of the city’s three public libraries or to the New Mexico Workforce Solutions office at 301 W. De Vargas St.
Applicants who meet the eligibility criteria will be considered without regard to race, creed, place or country of origin, age, disability, ethnicity, color, gender identity, marital status or sexual orientation. Recipients must live in Santa Fe County or Rio Arriba County and provide a Social Security number.
Donations
Anonymous (19): $5,271.02 Anonymous, in memory of Nettie and Etta Gonzales: $50 Laurel Awishus and Kathy Adelsheim: $500 Edward L. Angus: $100 Alicia Arany: $35 Abe A. and Dorothy Baldonado: $50 Karen and Wayne Barnes: $500 Cynthia Baughman: $100 Elizabeth Boeckman: $100 JP Martin Clinton, in honor of Barak Wolff and Leah Popp: $200 Davis Select Advisers and Lori Diehl, in memory of Susan Kuchma: $200 Dwight and Dorothy Finkel: $300 Thomas and Karen Fitzsimmons: $30 Barbara Zoe Gayl: $100 Suzanne and Norman George: $200 Laura Gery, in memory of Franklin Malchman: $30 Gerald and Diane Gulseth: $200 Mark and Anna Holland: $100 Donna Jones, in memory of Fred Izzo: $50 Margaret Keller, in honor of my dad, William “Bill” Keller: $2,500 Kenneth and Mary Lou Kurtz: $200 George J. and Tiia McLaughlin: $200 Sarah Michaud: $50 Esther and Ralph Milnes: $500 Kathleen W. and Scott E. Nadler: $100 Norma F. Green Family Foundation: $1,500 Karan and Bob Novak: $300 Janice Olch: $500 Josina Ortiz: $10 Ann L. Price: $50 Terry Rayborne: $25 Pastor Eric and Wendy Redic, in honor of Al Winn: $50 Santa Fe Advisors LLC: $101 Santa Fe New Mexican, Stearns: $50 Santa Fe New Mexican: $313 Denise and Tom Shreeve: $100 William (Bill) Smith: $50 Deborah and Howard Spiegelman: $100 Michael and Patricia Sullivan: $100 The Albin Family: $100 The Retired Book Club: $100 Gary J. Dellapa and Juliana M. Walsh: $50 Bill and Aria White: $100 Cumulative total: $15,265.95