Empty Stocking Fund growing, with goal of meeting high need for resources

Dec. 23—The Empty Stocking Fund, a holiday charity project launched by The Santa Fe New Mexican in 1981, has been a safety net during the season for hundreds of people facing unexpected financial hurdles in Northern New Mexico.

A familiar challenge persists this year, with the need for funds outpacing resources.

Because of the volume of applications submitted and how quickly the fund was depleted, the Santa Fe Community Foundation, a partner in the project, put a pause on new applications Nov. 21. However, the fund has been building up with new donations, and organizers expect to reopen the application window after the start of the new year.

Organizers aim to raise a record $475,000 this year; new donations as of Monday surpassed the halfway mark, at $278,000. People who want to contribute to the fund can learn more at santafecf.org/funds/empty-stocking-fund.

The window to apply for aid from the Empty Stocking Fund opened Nov. 4, and the foundation received applications requesting a total of more than $717,000 before it initiated the pause. By Monday the foundation had disbursed $223,000 requested in 178 applications, leaving the fund with $55,000.

Sandra Session-Robertson, the Santa Fe Community Foundation’s vice president of development and donor relations, said the amount would “definitely be exhausted,” with 94 pending applications left to review.

People living in Santa Fe and Rio Arriba counties who have experienced a sudden or unusual hardship in the past year, creating challenges in covering the costs of basic living expenses, are eligible to apply for up to $2,000 per household.

The fund has been a resource for retired senior citizens paying for medical care on a fixed income, workers who are behind on their rent or utility payments after a layoff or business shutdown, those who sustained a work-related injury and many others in the community.

The top five categories of need this year are car repairs, loss of income of at least 30%, evictions, utility disconnections and medical bills.

“We do hope that applications will open up again early next year,” Session-Robertson wrote in an email. “The application window is slated to be available through January 31 assuming funds are still available.”

The challenge of need outpacing resources is a common one, she said, adding she is optimistic about the outlook, as donations are coming in at a pace similar to 2023, when the project raised more than $414,000. In 2021, the fund reached an all-time high of $423,000.

“This community has always expressed generosity through their gifts to the Empty Stocking Fund. I fully expect this generosity to continue through January 31,” Session-Robertson wrote.

She often hears about the value of the charity program, she added, as there are few resources like it this time of year in Northern New Mexico.

She also hears the stories of the applicants and said she is humbled by the abundance of need and how the community steps up to respond.

“[W]hile the funds we raise are pretty modest in the grand scheme of things,” Session-Robertson wrote, “for families trying to make ends meet to pay rent, repair a car, or pay a utility bill, these resources can be the very thing that keeps them from losing the roof over their head or from losing the very vehicle that enables them to get to their job every day and ultimately work to provide for their family.”

Image Credits and Reference: https://www.yahoo.com/news/empty-stocking-fund-growing-goal-043400603.html