Empty Stocking Fund: Santa comes early
By John Joyce
Published in News on December 13, 2015 3:05 AM
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Brothers Jameer Kornegay, 5, and Jamaar Lewis, 6, smile as they wait in line with Joshua Best to take a photo and visit with Santa during the Empty Stocking Fund Party Saturday at Goldsboro High School. Best is a member of the Spring Creek High School Future Farmers of America who volunteer annually at the event.
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When James Selogy lost his job three weeks ago, he had no idea how he was going to make ends meet, let alone provide Christmas presents for his 8-year-old son, Christopher.
Selogy, an electrician, said he showed up to work one day and was about to clock in when he was told the company was shutting down.
But thanks to hundreds of donations from citizens across Wayne County, Selogy and more than 600 other families got to celebrate Christmas a little early this year.
The Empty Stocking Fund has been delivering Christmas to families who might have a little less than others each year for the past century.
On Saturday at Goldsboro High School families began lining up at 7 a.m. to be entertained, to get a few gifts, and to give their child a memory they can cherish by having their photo taken with Santa Claus.
"It takes an act of God to pull something like this off," Selogy said. "The way things are these days, people just don't seem to care anymore. This is a blessing."
This was Selogy's first year being invited to the Empty Stocking Fund. Families are selected when Wayne County Public Schools teachers notice a student or become aware of a family who might be in need of a little help. The student is given a ticket to take home to their parents and the family's information is sent to the News-Argus, which sponsors the annual event.
The family then shows up at the event -- which kicked off this year with entertainment by Miss Goldsboro Casey Croom, a school chorus and a performance by Goldsboro's own A Drummer's World drumline led by Alando Mitchell -- and each child is allowed to select a toy, a box of clothing, a book and a stuffed animal.
This year, a new addition to the event was added. Digital photos were taken of each child sitting on Santa's lap and the image was immediately printed out on a 4-by-6 photo, handed to the parent.
Donesha Williams said she has been coming to the Empty Stoking Fund ever since she was a little girl in the early 1990s. Her mother, Delores Trady, used to bring her and her siblings. Now Williams brings her own children -- Adrionan, 6, Jadarius, 5, and Janiyah, 3 -- each year. Williams' sister Latonya brought her children, NaTasha, 10, Angel Grant, 8, Jasmine Grant, 6, Alexis Grant, 3, and Harold Grant III, 4 months, as well.
"It's a good thing. It helps out the families in need," Williams said.
Organizers spend weeks leading up to the holidays accepting donations of toys and money in preparation. Volunteers then work to box all the donated clothing grouped together by their appropriate size and gender.
This year, Goldsboro News-Argus employees Amy Records and Michael Stewart headed up the Empty Stocking Fund together. This year the charity reached 438 children, Records said.
"(The turnout) was absolutely wonderful," she said.
Organizers for the Empty Stocking Fund credit much of the program's success to the volunteers that offer their time each year. Among them, Bobby Braswell's family marked its 50th anniversary volunteering support to the program.
"We started in 1965 with Bob Braswell, my father. We had a supermarket and we provided all the fruits and candy at the time," said Braswell.
On Friday, his family, which include his wife, son, granddaughters and daughter-in-law, brought enough fruits and candies to fill 650 stockings. The Braswells organized the pick-up of hundreds of pounds of apples, oranges and candies that were given out in goodie bags.
"When it started, it was unheard of to get apples and oranges and candy, but now it is so much easier for everyone to get fruit. It seems like it is available to all kids, but we fail to realize that a lot of children don't get these things," Braswell said.
Alan Johnson, 17, Spring Creek High School Future Farmers of America member, is in his third year volunteering with the event. Johnson held the hands of children as they browsed through toys, he spoke gently to the children when they were frightened, and after their photos had been taken with Santa, he wished them well when they climbed off of Santa's lap and scurried back to their parents.
"I think Empty Stocking Fund is a great opportunity to get out in the community and help people in need and work with small children, and that is what I enjoy doing," Johnson said. "It is simply amazing and a God-sent blessing."