Fill an Empty Stocking

How comforting it is during the holiday season to count your blessings for all that you have.

Now we want you to think about the people who have little.

Think about the mother in Warrenton whose 3-year-old daughter has a fatal neurological condition, and whose disabled husband is still seeking work.

Or about the Aiken mother of three, jobless after being stricken with diabetes and multiple sclerosis, who doesn't know what Christmas will hold for her three sons.

Or about the father, wracked with several mental illnesses, who wonders how he and his jobless wife will bring holiday cheer to their loving 6-year-old boy.

Those are the kinds of families William S. Morris was thinking of when, in 1930, he created The Augusta Chronicle's Empty Stocking Fund, in which 100 percent of all contributions benefit people in holiday need.

Last year alone, the fund collected almost $100,000 for more than 7,000 people to enjoy their holidays the way they were meant to be enjoyed - happily.

Families in need can apply at The Chronicle News Building, 725 Broad St., or at our bureaus in Columbia and Aiken counties. Contributions can be made at those locations, or mailed to Empty Stocking Fund, P.O. Box 1928, Augusta, GA 30903-1928. You also can donate online by visiting www.augustachronicle.com/emptystocking.

How comforting it is during the holiday season not only to count your blessings, but to know that your blessings have been passed on to those who need them most.