A helping hand: Panama City Empty Stocking Fund supports single mother for second year

PANAMA CITY — Anna Huff said she always will remember waking up and watching her four children open their Christmas presents last year.

A bike, basketball hoop, skateboard, clothes and the Bakugans her now 8-year-old son requested were among the items found underneath the tree.

“My 3-year-old got a Doc McStuffins doctor kit because she wants to be a doctor when she grows up,” Huff said. “She said she wants to be a doctor to help people.”

After entering transitional housing at the Salvation Army in May of last year, Huff said it had been a tough year for her family. To have end it with an unforgettable Christmas filled with presents, family and love thanks to the Salvation Army and the Empty Stocking Fund, she said she was blessed.

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“It felt amazing just watching them get up and I was so thankful and grateful for the Salvation Army that they could help because if not, I probably wouldn’t have had many presents as I did to let them open,” Huff said. “It was a huge blessing.”

Huff is just one of the hundreds of people who are helped by the donations given to Panama City’s Empty Stocking Fund each year. The local fund was started more than 35 years ago by Salvation Army board member Tommy Thomas and The News Herald to bring holiday cheer to the area’s families in need.

The fund’s goal this year is $200,000 and was sitting at $121,596 as of Friday.

The Salvation Army helps out

Since moving into transitional housing, Huff said her family’s life has seen major improvements, thanks to the support and action of the Salvation Army.

“When I first got here, I didn’t have a car, I just came here with my stuff basically,” Huff said. “It’s given me the opportunity to get a car and I’ve gotten the opportunity to get a house and things like that. Anything you can think of, it helps you with budgeting, helping you with managing your money, counseling, everything.”

One of the biggest changes in her life is also her sense of community and spirituality, Huff said. The director of the Salvation Army also is the pastor at her church and Huff said she is trying to be more holy in her everyday life.

“Now, I go to church and actually strive to do things different in my life,” Huff said. “Like not just say ‘I’m saved, so I can ask for forgiveness for my sin.’ It’s more the act of trying to be holy now. Trying to not do those things and I had to learn that through her church.”

Huff said she was never religious growing up, despite attending church with her neighbors.

“I just didn’t go a lot and I guess I wasn’t looking for God the way I’ve been looking for him in these last two years,” Huff said.

Huff and her family also will be getting a house in the near future, with Huff adding that she is learning patience while waiting for the house to be fixed up and later inspected.

“It’s unbelievable; it’s something only God can do,” Huff said. “(The kids) are very excited that each one of them will have their own room. Right now, two of my girls share one room.”

Now, as the Christmas season wraps up in three weeks, Huff said they likely will see support from the fund again this year, since both car and phone payments have eaten into her savings.

“Hopefully, we’ll have a good Christmas this year,” Huff said. “I’ve been kind of saving up and I had to buy the car that I bought, so that took a lot of checks and money out of what I had put up, but I know it will be all right.”

After seeing donations from the community help her family for the past two holidays, she said she feels one thing: hopeful.

“It’s amazing how much people can pull together whenever they need to, whenever the need is great,” Huff said. “It’s really heartwarming to know that people actually care. I know it made a really big difference in our lives, so I can imagine the difference it’s making in others’ lives as well.”

Huff wants to remind the community that their donations truly go toward something amazing, and she has seen it change the lives of both her family and others around her.

“God has his hands and feet, which is what I like to call the people who donate, they’ve definitely been a blessing to me and my four kids,” Huff said. “They don’t know the difference they really make in kids’ hearts, waking up seeing the presents and even just having presents.”

Residents can mail donations to: The Empty Stocking Fund, c/o The Salvation Army, P.O. Box 540, Panama City, FL 32402. Donations also can be made by credit card at www.salvationarmypanamacity.org using the Empty Stocking Fund donate button.

Donations should not be dropped off at The News Herald this year.

Self-addressed envelopes will be included in the print editions of The News Herald on Dec. 15 and Dec. 22. For more information about the Salvation Army, visit https://salvationarmyflorida.org/panamacity/.

This article originally appeared on The News Herald: Panama City Empty Stocking Fund helps single mother a 2nd year