"When Good Fellows 'Give' Together"

There's No Chance for Empty-Stocking Tragedies
On Christmas Morn to Blight the Faith of Childhood

By Patricia Rathbone

Christmas because it celebrates the birthday of a Child belongs especially to children. It is the one day of the year when happiness is rightfully theirs, when it is the duty of the public to see that at least one day in their little lives is a red letter one.

But unless the benevolent people of Richmond rally to the cause of an over-worked Santa Claus, hundreds of empty stocking tragedies will occur here on Christmas morning. All over town youngsters will awaken to heartbreak and disappointment as they discover that the red-coated patron of good children has passed them by.

Economics have no place in the minds of these underprivileged children. They have written their pleading scrawls to Santa. On street corners and in stores, Santa Claus has promised to bring them the coveted doll, football or sled. They have talked of nothing else for weeks.

Distracted parents without jobs, money or the hope of either, have asked aid from the Good Fellows' Club. For many it is the first appeal for aid. Others, less fortunate, have been helped from time to time by social agencies. But whether it is their first or hundredth request, all are piteous in their appeals that somebody help provide gifts for their babies. They know that their children are "living" for the twenty-fifth. That they are forgetting ragged clothes and scanty meals in eager anticipation of what "Santy" will bring. And they cannot bear the thought of childish heartache.

Neither can the people of Richmond endure the thought of empty stocking tragedies. Already nearly 1,000 of the poor children enrolled in the Good Fellows Club are assured of a merry Christmas because of the charity of Virginia people. But 6,000 names still remain in the "uncared for" files.

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Here are the stories of 14 families whose children face empty stocking tragedies. Their cases were picked at random from the files of the club. Certainly they are no exception to the general rule. There may be cases which make a greater appeal to the heart. There may be some less moving. But these are real Richmond people and in every one of these homes, Christmas will be just another drab, cold and dreary day unless some outsider is moved to compassion.

No. 1.

Over in a tiny house on a West End Street live a mother, father and six children. The father and 17-year-old son are jobless and poverty of the direst sort has been a permanent visitor there this winter. For more than a week this family lived entirely on potatoes. Most of them have been sick from exposure and improper diet and even the 6-year-old child asks only for "something to wear" from Santa Claus. There are four girls in this family ranging in age from 13-year-old Margaret to "Boots" who is 6. Any gift would be appreciated and a Christmas dinner would be a perfect present for the whole family.

No. 2.

"Dear Sandy Claws --

Will you bring me a coat and a dress size 10. And a toy. And bring my brother some close and a toy. But Sandy, my father is on the relief and he won't be able to pay for anything. He needs shoes, too Sant and Mama would like a house dress."

This is what a 10-year-old Negro child wrote to Saint Nick. And the social worker who brought it to the Good Fellows added that the child's father is on work relief and makes only $26. A meagre income makes the life of this little family a pathetic one. The 8-year-old boy needs trousers badly and the tumbled down old house on a side street is full of leaks and cracks. Doesn't some one want to substitute for Santa Claus and bring little Mary and Percival, at least "a toy."

No. 3.

Nobody loves little boys. At least thats what Jack, Bob, Jimmy and Paul think. They have been so unhappy this year, with little food, ragged clothes and a sick mother and father that they've about given up hope.

"We've been good," said 8-year-old Jimmy. "Jack is 11 and he's made us help, why I've been rocking baby Joyce nearly every afternoon. But Santa Claus ain't coming cause we're poor. But if he does, I'd sure like a sweater or a game or something. Bob's 9 and Paul's 5 and both of them need something to wear."

The Holeman family lived in a dilapidated flat on a side street. Great holes in the plaster let the wind whistle through and a nervous, unemployed man and a sick mother can do little save worry about their pathetic five.

No. 4.

Mrs. L was deserted several years ago and has not heard from her husband since then. She is sensible and practical but it is hard for an untrained woman to support herself and her two little girls. Mary, who is 7, wants some underwear and socks and a doll. Five-year-old Kitty would rather have a little umbrella than anything else in the world, she says. Both the mother who wears a size 16, and the little girls need clothes badly.

No. 5.

Up on Church Hill, an unemployed painter is struggling hard to find jobs so that his family of six will not have "to go on relief." He is a hard-working industrious man but his health is not good and painting jobs are few and far between in the winter.

No. 6.

An aged carpenter and his young wife came to The Times-Dispatch offices asking aid for their family of five. Federal Emergency Relief gives this little group an income of about $30 monthly but sickness, the need of new clothes and the imminent prospect of an addition to the family within the next few weeks has so depleted the slim resources that unless outside aid is forthcoming there will be no Christmas cheer in the bleak little house in the West End.

The oldest daughter who is 15 has been trying to get work but is so in need of clothing that she can not go out in bad weather. Bed clothing, food and some baby clothes are the greatest needs of this little family but at least one Christmas gift for 12-year-old Anne, her 8-year-old sister and her 5-year-old brother are wanted and Frances, the year-old baby should have at least an orange and a bright ball in her tiny sock.

No. 7.

A frail widow has been struggling for the last three years to support her four little children. Last year because she had no money and was temporarily out of work she steeled herself to let the two younger children go to a childless friend who could take care of them and educate them. Broken up by the anguish of parting with her babies she has tried hard to be gay for the sake of the other small son and daughter. She has struggled hard but she has to ask for help if Santa is to visit 12-year-old Bill and 9-year-old Alice this year.

No. 8.

Thirteen people are crowded into two upper rooms of a frame house on a side street in Richmond. This family consists of a Negro man and his wife and their 11 children who range in age from 23-year-old Elizabeth to twin boys of 8. The monthly check of the older boy who was at a CCC camp until September was the only income of this family. Since the September check, the family has had no means of support and the furniture which they bought then has been taken back. They are in danger of being evicted and there are only two beds and two blankets for the 13.

The father is going on FERA relief and will get a little more than $30 a month but this is a small sum for 13 people. Clothes are needed for the entire family, also old furniture and bedding. Two sets of twins, Charlie and Liza, aged 9, and Walter and Webb, who are 8 years of age, are the only members of this group who expect a visit from old Mr. Sandy Claws. A dinner for the family would be a real Christmas present for this unhappy group.

No. 9.

"Why doesn't Santy Claus come to see little boys whose daddies haven't jobs?"

This is the question that is worrying 5-year-old Freddie. His father is a barber but he has been ill and jobless for some months and Freddie and his three brothers and baby sister are threatened with a tragedy of empty stockings. This family is in a distressing condition for they need clothing, bedding, furniture, practically everything. They are helped by the Social Service Bureau but there is no money for Christmas cheer. The boys range from 11-year-old Allen to Freddie and there also is a 2-year-old sister.

No. 10.

A crippled father, a harassed mother and 10 under-nourished disheartened children face the prospect of a miserable giftless Christmas. Except for small sums that the mother and two of the children receive for occasional termporary jobs, there is no income in this family. The older members of the family do not expect any gifts from the Good Fellows but the five youngest despite all their suffering still hope that Santa Claus or some substitute Santa will provide at least a Christmas basket. Two little boys, 8 and 9, and girls of 13, 5 and 2 are the youngsters who still hope for something for Christmas.

Unless Good "Fellows come to the aid of this little family, the youngsters will have to learn that Santa Claus passes the home of the poor on Christmas Eve.

No. 11.

Ever since Mr. Jones left his family to go on an unsuccessful search for work, his wife, a conscientious and devoted mother, has shouldered the responsibility of her five daughters. Now that she has lost her job at a paper manufacturing company, she is entirely without funds and is almost distracted at the thought of Christmas without a single toy for her children.

Her five little girls range from 14-year-old Peggy to Lee, the baby, who is 3. In between these two are 11-year-old Eva, 9-year-old May and Constance, who is 6. Dolls, a few pairs of socks, dishes, candy and nuts would make Christmas a happy day for these children and put new life and spirit into the worried mother.

No. 12.

For the last six months, Mr. H. and his wife have both been ill. Mrs. H. lost a baby and during her confinement and subsequent illness, 9-year-old Marie has done all the cooking and housework as well as caring for her little sisters who are 4 and one years old.

The little house on a downtown sidestreet where this family lives is dreary and dirty and Christmas will be just another doleful day to the H. family unless the Goodfellows do their part. Clothes, toys or other Christmas cheer would make the twenty-fifth a Red Letter day to the mother and father and give the children one happy memory.

No. 13.

On a West End street in a poor, bleak little house lives a widow and four children who are entirely dependent upon a relief agency for food, clothing and shelter. A grocery order, an order of milk and fuel and occasional Red Cross clothes--this is the sum of the family's resources. Recently an older daughter and her small baby came to share the family home.

This family has been used to a high standard of living and the children have beautiful manners and are courteous and cheerful despite all the hardships.

There is no money for Christmas cheer in this house and a 9-year-old lad and his little sisters, 8 and 5, will awaken to find empty stockings on Christmas Day unless they are adopted by a benevolent Goodfellow.

No. 14.

In three small, barely furnished rooms on a central side street live the Cole family. The only employment Mr. Cole has been able to find is that provided by the Social Service Bureau. His wife is delicate and needs constant medical attention and four of his five small children need shoes.

Tommy, the oldest of the Cole children, is 9 and Tommy wants a wagon. "I could ride the baby, run errands and get ice and coal," he says. Belle who is 6 and Doris, 3, have no specified wishes. They just hope that Santy will really come down the chimney on Christmas eve. Two-year-old Richard and the baby who is too wee to know anything about the red-coated Saint are silent about their Christmas hopes but a sweater for the infant and a toy or two for Dicky would make the day memorable for the whole family.

Sickness, poverty, mal-nutrition, cold--- these are the daily visitors in most of these poor homes. Faulty diet, insufficient clothing and bad environment handicap these children from the start. Babies hardly able to walk talk of money as the greatest good for small as they are they realize that pennies buy coal and bread and potatoes and the lack of all these have made them suffer.

Talk of Christmas is in the air wherever children assemble. At school, "What I'm going to get for Christmas is more important than the three R's or report cards. Hoping against hope, these children expect Christmas gifts. They know that money is scarce and times hard but surely Santa won't care and won't forget them on Christmas.

These are the brief sketches of a few of the children who are looking to the people of Richmond for a merry Christmas. They give an inadequate picture of the empty stocking tragedies that are apt to happen unless the response to the fund is quick and generous.

For 10 years the Good Fellows have answered this call. Personally and by gifts of toys, money and foodstuffs these generous people have seen that more than 30,000 children have been assured a Merry Christmas.

Many Richmonders are veteran members of the club. They write "Good Fellows" on their Christmas lists and consider presents for the poor as essential components of Christmas as turkey and a tree.

The situation this year is acute. Six thousand remain on the club lists.

To aid these children is easy. All that is necessary to be a Good Fellow is to call 3-3431 and procure the name of a child to whom the Good Fellow sends gifts. Or if it is easier, send in a gift of cash or toys and the club officials will see that your money is used to avert empty stockings tragedies.

All contributions go direct to the children. The overhead is paid by the paper which also attends to the purchasing and distribution.

Six thousand children face empty stocking tragedies. Will you help avert one?