Empty Stocking Fund taking applications
Goal this year is to raise nearly $400,000
The 42-year-old Empty Stocking Fund is launching its annual campaign to raise money for Northern New Mexico families who are struggling to pay their bills.
The charitable fund, a project of The New Mexican to help people with rent, utilities, medical expenses and other needs during the holiday season, raised about $385,000 last year, a little less than the record $421,000 raised in 2021.
This year, the fund hopes to raise $399,000.
Applications are open to anyone who is in need living within 50 miles of Santa Fe. They will be accepted through Nov. 30 or until there are 800 applicants.
People can request as much as $2,500 per household, with the amount given depending on the need.
So far, 440 people have applied, according to Susan Cahoon, The New Mexican’s human resources director. The fund has raised almost $40,000 toward its goal from donations collected earlier in the year, and it already has begun helping those in need this season.
One beneficiary is a Chimayó family with five children who lost their stove when a truck ran into their home.
“The father can fix the damage to the house, but the stove only has one working burner,” the family, who asked that their name not be published, wrote in an email. “And it’s the holidays. The Empty Stocking Fund is stepping in and providing a new stove, which will be installed in the coming days. Not in time for Thanksgiving, but a welcome and necessary appliance for this Chimayó family. Thank you to the donors for making this happen!”
The New Mexican runs the fund with a range of partners. This year, the fund is working with The Life Link, the Santa Fe Community Foundation, Enterprise Bank, Habitat for Humanity, Esperanza Shelter, Gerard’s House, the Salvation Army, Coming Home Connection, Adelante and YouthWorks.
Three of those partners — Adelante, Coming Home and YouthWorks — are new this year. Adelante, a program to assist homeless students run by Santa Fe Public Schools, has already been providing Thanksgiving/
Harvest meals to students and families in the program, with side dishes donated by various food drives in Santa Fe.
The Empty Stocking Fund has been helping out with $30 gift cards so families can buy ham, turkey, chicken or whatever else they prefer for their main entree.
Longtime partners that have returned include Gerard’s House, which helps children and young people who are grieving the death of or separation from a loved one. This is an especially acute need in New Mexico, which is estimated to have the second-highest rate of bereaved children nationwide, the nonprofit said. An estimated 1 in 10 children in New Mexico experiences the death of a parent or sibling before age 18.
“Gerard’s House’s mission is to create safe spaces where healing happens through acceptance and peer support for grieving children, teenagers, families, and adults,” the organization wrote in an email to The New Mexican.
Its services include “25 weekly peer grief support groups onsite and throughout [Santa Fe Public Schools], a mobile unit, individual sessions, summer camps, crisis response services and support for parents [and] caregivers.” All of its services are bilingual and free.