Nonprofit Stockings With Care Helps Deserving Kids' Christmas Wishes Come True
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- This year, Santa is getting a lot of help making wishes come true for so many families in need.
One charity is stepping up to make sure children get exactly what they want.
A mom who goes by Mrs. T says shopping for her three kids is a big expense. She's a home health aide, and she says her budget for groceries doesn't leave much for gifts.
"For me to get the Christmas gift, put it underneath the Christmas tree and see that joy on my kid's face... That was the best day of my life," she said.
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It's made possible thanks to a group of elves with the nonprofit Stockings With Care. They're working out of a socially distanced Santa's workshop hidden on the tenth floor of a Midtown high-rise.
Rosalie Joseph is the head elf. She started Stockings With Care 29 years ago after volunteering at a toy drive and seeing the dim expressions on kids' faces. They were grateful, but she could see they weren't lighting up, getting the exact toys they dreamed of.
So she found an army of Santas, individual donors and corporations, who each year buy kids gifts from their wish list. Then, they deliver them anonymously to parents before the holidays.
"With Stockings With Care, the parent is the hero," Joseph told CBS2's Natalie Duddridge.
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Joseph's team pairs up with several social service agencies around the city to find deserving families.
"This is done in a way that the children don't have to acknowledge their poverty. The children, if they're young enough, they assume that this came from Santa or the mom or the dad," said Angela Hope-Weusi, a social worker with Long Life Information and Referral Network.
"It is very grateful ... Because without this group, I don't know if my kids would have had a happy Christmas," Mrs. T said.
But this year, they got to experience Santa's magic.
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