Ana Castro with son Anthony, age 11, and 7-year-old daughter Annie in Charlotte. They are grateful for any gifts they receive over the holidays from the Salvation’s Army Angel Tree program.
Charlotte Observer readers support that project through donating to the Empty Stocking Fund. Courtesy Ana Castro

A Charlotte widow with two kids sees brighter holiday thanks to Observer readers

By Liz Rothaus Bertrand
Correspondent
The Charlotte Observer

For Charlottean Ana Castro, making Christmas a special time for her two children is a priority. Daily life has been more challenging for the family after her husband’s death in 2021. “It was a really tough year after his passing and even though the years have passed, it is still tough,” Castro said.

Alongside raising Anthony, age 11, and 7-year-old Annie, she works part-time as a contractor in medical interpretation for a small company. She’s also studying toward an associates degree in Spanish interpretation so that someday she can work directly for one of Charlotte’s main hospitals.

Read more at: https://www.charlotteobserver.com/living/helping-others/empty-stocking-fund/article313110679.html#storylink=cpy

How Charlotte Observer readers bring joy to children around the holidays

By Joe Marusak
The Charlotte Observer

Families are struggling, “particularly in this economy,” Salvation Army of Greater Charlotte Major Andrew Wiley said. “They are struggling to just make ends meet – pay the rent, put food on the table for their kids.”

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Pamela Curry with her sons, 9-year-old Elisha and Elian, 5. The Charlotte mom and former CMS bus driver is grateful that her boys will get Christmas presents thanks to the Salvation Army’s Angel Tree program. Observer readers support that program through donations to the Empty Stocking Fund.
Courtesy Pamela Curry

A veteran CMS bus driver battles cancer but ensures her kids will find Christmas joy

By Liz Rothaus Bertrand
Correspondent
The Charlotte Observer

For Charlotte resident Pamela Curry and her sons, 9-year-old Elisha and 5-year-old Elian, the holidays used to look very different.

On Christmas Eve, Curry and her mom would stay up late into the night, chatting and wrapping presents. They’d decorate the house, toast one another — Curry with coffee and her mom with ginger ale — and give a prayer of thanks that they could celebrate Christmas together.

Curry would keep wrapping while her mom prepared a feast for the next day. “That was the best food in the world,” she told The Charlotte Observer, reminiscing about the annual meal that included turkey, macaroni salad, collard greens and Curry’s favorite — homemade cornbread and turkey giblet dressing.

But about three years ago, everything changed.

In the span of a few months, Curry lost her oldest son’s father to a heart attack and her beloved mother fell gravely ill. Ten days after burying her mother, Curry was diagnosed with HER2 metastatic breast cancer. She was unable to return to her longtime job as a bus driver for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools.

And with money so tight, she also worried about her boys and the upcoming holidays. There have been a couple years, she said, where her kids woke up on Christmas Day and there was nothing under the tree. “And I told them we’ll celebrate Christmas later when I get some money,” she said.

That’s where The Salvation Army of Greater Charlotte’s annual Angel Tree program comes in.

Read more at: https://www.charlotteobserver.com/living/helping-others/empty-stocking-fund/article297223899.html#storylink=cpy

During holiday season, the Mitchell family has a tradition of helping out with special meals for residents in the senior living community where Mitchell volunteers. Courtesy of Brandis Mitchell
Courtesy of Brandis Mitchell

Charlotte Mom grateful she won't need to choose between rent or kids' holiday gifts now

By Liz Rothaus Bertrand
Correspondent
The Charlotte Observer

Volunteering and giving back to the community are values that Charlotte resident Brandis Mitchell lives by.

“I’ve been doing this since I was a little girl,” Mitchell said. “It’s just something that she … instilled and I kept it going.”

The Portland, Oregon, native grew up in Ohio, and started volunteering as a child alongside her grandmother. She served meals while her grandmother cooked and cleaned for the local Salvation Army’s soup kitchen. Mitchell moved to Charlotte nine years ago to help care for her grandfather. She was also confronting her own challenges at the time, including a domestic violence situation and homelessness.

Since her grandfather’s passing, Mitchell has been on her own in Charlotte, raising her two daughters — Maudessia, 14, and Avayah, 12 — and her 11-year old son, Robert.

She recently transitioned into a new job, cleaning apartments and AirBNBs. The position allows Mitchell to work during her children’s school day and the flexibility to better care for her son, who has severe asthma, and sometimes has to miss weeks of school when he’s ill.

But money is tight so Mitchell has turned to a familiar source for help — The Salvation Army.

Read more at: https://www.charlotteobserver.com/living/helping-others/empty-stocking-fund/article296864719.html#storylink=cpy