In 2022, the Saint John, N.B., Empty Stocking Fund was cancelled after more than a century, but one local man is trying to change that for the community.
Bill Dorey is hoping to bring the time-honoured tradition back to the Port City.
“The memories are very fond to me, I remember the Empty Stocking Fund as a child,” he said in an interview Wednesday. “I remember receiving things from the Empty Stocking Fund as well and those memories are things that kind of shaped us growing up and becoming the adults we are today.”
The Empty Stocking Fund ended last year when the fundraiser’s sponsor – the Telegraph-Journal – was sold. According to its old website, the Empty Stocking Fund was started in 1912. It provides toys to children and families in need at Christmas time.
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In its final year, the telethon raised nearly $260,000 for the community — a record.
Dorey said the absence last year was definitely felt and likely left many kids without the joy they’d come to expect from the fundraiser.
“It’s more so about having that feeling of joy, whether it is a toy, whether it’s time with your family, whether it’s having a proper meal, a Christmas tree, the lights, the entire experience is super important,” he said.
Dorey is working to secure a charitable organization but has accessed a local high school to host the telethon.
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It won’t have any corporate sponsors, he explained, hoping to make it community-led permanently.
He said about 70 people have already signed up to volunteer, and he’s hoping for as many as 200 people.
“And to say as well that it is super important the community owns it going forward, that way there we don’t run into another situation where an acquisition occurs and we lose it, this is going to be with us for another hundred years,” he said.
Anyone interested in performing can email info@emptystockingfundsj.com. Volunteers wanting to lend their time can fill out an online form.
More information about the Empty Stocking Fund can be found on Facebook. The fundraiser is expected to take place at Simonds High School on Dec. 10.
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