Thanks to the efforts of the Rotary Club of Corbin and the Southeast Kentucky Empty Stocking Fund, over 600 children got a merrier Christmas this year than they might not have gotten otherwise.
The 37th Annual Empty Stocking Fund party was held on Saturday at Immanuel Baptist Church.
The Christmas present wrapping party took place on Friday evening at the church with numerous volunteers wrapping one present for every child. Little Caesars donated pizza for those, who came to help and also pizza for attendees of Saturday’s party.
Southeast Kentucky Empty Stocking Fund President Joe Caldwell said that 634 children were signed up this year representing 225 families. Originally, the plan was to cut it off at 600 children, but 
organizers agreed to sign up an additional 34 children, whose families couldn’t get out on the sign-up day.
“We could have signed up 75 or 100 more children, if we had had the funding to do it,” he added.
All 634 children received one wrapped present. In addition they each got a blanket, books and other gifts.
A total of 84 children ages six – eight year of age, who but didn’t get a bicycle during last year’s giveaway, received one this year.
Caldwell said the bicycles were courtesy of Brandon Pratt at Pratt’s Landscaping and a trucking company out of London
Caldwell said $42,500 was budgeted as the goal this year, but they had to factor in about $2,500 worth of inflation too.
The program was able to save some money because several items that they purchased at Walmart ended up being on sale.
The Dollar General store in Keavy and its patrons also donated over $3,000 worth of items for the giveaway. The wife of Caldwell’s grandson, Benjamin, is the manager of the store.
“They were asking their customers coming in to buy a little gift for the Empty Stocking Fund. We would take $2 and $5 and $10 gifts and put some of them together so that we would come up with $25 or $30 of $35 worth of gifts,” Caldwell said. “They saved us 117 gifts that we didn’t have to buy. This helped a lot.”
Not counting these gifts, Caldwell said that the Empty Stocking Fund had raised over $30,000 as of Saturday with at least two more large deposits to be made, which he thinks will total around $6,000 – $8,000.
Caldwell said this would put the program at about the $40,000 mark raised so far this year, and he anticipates getting in a few more donations after the give-a-way.
Caldwell said that donations are always needed and accepted and anything in excess of what is spent this year will be put towards next year’s give-a-way.
“We try our best to have some money in reserve so that if we don’t get enough donations, we won’t have to sign up children and turn them away,” he said.
Donations may be mailed to:
Southeast Kentucky Empty Stocking Fund
P.O. Box 1747
Corbin, KY 40702
The Empty Stocking Fund is a 501c3 non-profit. Donations are tax deductible.
Caldwell thanked everyone involved for helping make Saturday’s event a success.
When the Southeast Kentucky Empty Stocking Fund was established in 1988 by the Rotary Club of Corbin, it was a pretty simple project delivering one wrapped Christmas present each to the homes of 75 children.
While the club helped several children this year, it wasn’t a record event.
In 2007, the Empty Stock Fund signed up about 850 children and served 788 children, which was a record number.
