Seventy years ago Addie Crist and Irene Flanders sat together to sew six red cloth stockings.
They filled them mostly with necessaries but also with a ray of Christmas delight for six needy Island kids.
They didn’t call it the Red Stocking Fund and could not have known their simple act of kindness would become an extraordinary source of hope and joy for several thousand Island children and their families.
Plenty of mild chili, cold beer and warm fun went into the 22nd annual WMVY Chili Contest last Saturday. The fundraiser raised approximately $21,000 for the Island’s charitable organization, the Red Stocking Fund, more than last year’s event.
Every Christmas morning on the Island hundreds of children for whom the day would otherwise serve only as a reminder of want, tear through a heap of lovingly wrapped gifts. This owes, of course, to the prodigious efforts of Père Noel, but also to the dozens of merry-making volunteers at the Red Stocking Fund.
While other Island fund-raising efforts have floundered of late, with a new wing for this or that building going unfinished, it seems that Vineyarders’ compassion for their fellow man is constant.
Motorcyclists enjoyed a weekend on the Vineyard, while contributing to Island charities through the 29th annual Run to the Rock.
Mike Dow, president of the hosting nonprofit group, the Martha’s Vineyard Harley Riders, said the weekend went well. Last year the event raised $50,000 for Vineyard charities and Mr. Dow said they expect to do even better once all the money is counted this year. The riders came from all over New England, and from as far north as Canada and as far west as Pennsylvania.
The Red Stocking Fund has put out an urgent appeal to the Martha’s Vineyard community for toys. The fund has received a record number of qualifying applications, with well over 400 children in genuine need this holiday season.
Organizers are asking anyone in a position to donate to bring toys to the Edgartown and Oak Bluffs Schools, or to Grace Church on Woodlawn avenue in Vineyard Haven, between now and Wednesday; arrangements also can be made to have new toys picked up.
With a sold-out venue and nearly 1,600 people set to descend on the Portuguese American Club in Oak Bluffs tomorrow, the Big Chili Contest 2010 is bigger than ever. And the event sponsored by Vineyard radio station WMVY is sure to produce more smiles than ever for all parties concerned, from the chili chompers to the chilly children who receive clothes that the Red Stocking Fund buys with the proceeds.
And volunteers at the Red Stocking Fund have checked it twice and are already deep into shopping for shoes, warm winter coats and pajamas for needy Island children.
Oh, and don’t forget the bicycles — which are not bought but donated; the 73-year-old fund does not buy toys but accepts donations of them for children.
“My daughter has 12 bicycles in her home,” declared Kerry Alley of Oak Bluffs, who codirects the Red Stocking Fund with Lorraine Clark of Vineyard Haven.
