More than 2,000 children in Rowan County who might have gone without instead found a present under their Christmas tree Tuesday, thanks to readers of the Salisbury Post.
You’re the ones who so generously support the Post’s Christmas Happiness fund year after year. Then-Editor Spencer Murphy started the fund 55 years ago, collecting $1,801. This Christmas season, your contributions have surpassed $75,000 ó a feat Murphy probably never expected. He might not have dared to dream that big. Christmas Happiness has turned out to be all that Murphy hoped for and more.
How do we adequately express gratitude for making Christmas brighter for 2,056 children from more than 900 families? Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Here’s the way the fund works each year: The Post accepts the money, listing the givers and their messages in the paper. Then, with Post staff member Linda Braswell counting every penny ó and we do mean every penny ó all the money goes to the Rowan County Department of Social Services.
The agency takes applications and gives vouchers good for $30 per child to those who qualify. This year, as DSS Director Sandra Wilkes reported in a recent letter, the fund had enough money for every child who qualified. No one was turned away for lack of funds.
The generosity that showed this year bodes well for our community. Despite some plant slowdowns and other downsizing, contributions poured in without any more prompting than the daily Christmas Happiness column on the front page ó from school children’s pennies to checks for thousands of dollars. In some years, The Post has issued urgent pleas for more donations to try to provide a gift for every child who qualified ó not always with success. This year Post readers gave generously and eagerly.
Thank you for helping this fund live up to its name ó Christmas Happiness. Merry Christmas.