EMPTY STOCKING: 'Someone like me doesn't talk about it'

It might be your acquaintance.

Maybe it’s just someone at church who looked to be doing OK.

It might be the neighbor next door.

“A lot of people don’t realize,” said Connie, a 43-year-old mother of six, whose husband is out of state to find work. “Not everyone knows everyone else’s story.”

The couple has been alternately unemployed and underemployed for the past year and a half. With two college-age offspring living at home and four minors to care for, they finally had to ask for help.

“Someone like me doesn’t talk about it,” said Connie, whose first name is being used to protect her privacy. “It’s so personal — and often times emotional. There’s a lot of need out there that people might not realize because not everyone talks about it.”

Luckily, their church belongs to the Northern Churches Care group. With rent and utility bill help — and a few visits to the NCC food pantry — Connie and her family have gotten by.

“They kept us from falling so far back, we couldn’t catch up,” said Connie.

She started working for a local school district a month ago.

The Northern Churches Care is one of 14 area charities receiving grants from The Gazette-El Pomar Foundation Empty Stocking Fund. It helped more than 440 local families with rental assistance in 2008, as well as transportation vouchers and medical assistance.

Connie’s husband has been gone for more than a month now. The family hopes he’s back for Christmas — but who knows.

“We’re thankful he’s got a job,” she said.

Though Connie feels bad she doesn’t have any extra to give back this year, she hopes others can.

“If you just give up one or two coffee visits a week — $5 in food can make a big difference to a family,” she said. “You’d be surprised how little it takes. When you give, the money is multiplied. It doesn’t take much and it goes a long way.”

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To make a secure online donation, go to www.fillanemptystocking.org. Call 476-1673 to make a credit card or stock donation over the phone. Checks can be made payable to the Empty Stocking Fund and mailed to P.O. Box 400, Colorado Springs, CO 80901.