Share the Season: Theft of car, purse wrecks single mother’s finances

Share the Season is an annual campaign that offers one-time aid to people affected by unforeseen hardships. The people are not identified to protect their privacy.

When her car was stolen and damaged, this single mom’s finances were also wrecked.

“I’m trying to get back on my feet,” she wrote in her application to Share the Season.

She has a good start after the organization recently provided assistance.

“It definitely took weight off my shoulders,” the 33-year-old woman said. “It was a huge, huge help.”

After arriving home one evening in mid-November, the mother of two girls, 18 months and 8 years, took her children in the house and began unloading some items from the car.

During her second trip to the house, she looked out in the dark night and saw someone driving off with her car. Her purse and cellphone were inside.

Police later found the car wrecked and stripped of its battery and wheels. Her baby’s car seat was also gone.

Her pay from her full-time job couldn’t keep up with the $1,000 deductible to get her car repaired on top of buying a new phone, replacing items in her purse and paying a percentage for new tires.

“I also had to have all the locks changed on my house,” she said. “I thought they’d come back. I was scared. It was a mess.”

Share the Season helped her clean it up.

“And for that,” she said, “I’m very grateful.”

Share the Season is a joint project of The Eagle, the Wichita Community Foundation and the Salvation Army.

So far this season, it has raised $173,079.

Send contributions to Share the Season at the Wichita Community Foundation, 301 N. Main, Suite 100, Wichita, KS 67202. To donate online, go to www.sharetheseason.org. If you have questions about donating, call 316-264-4880.

Donors will be listed in The Eagle; please note if you prefer to remain anonymous.

To apply for help, fill out an application at www.sharetheseason.org or pick one up at the Salvation Army, 350 N. Market. The application deadline is Dec. 20. For more information, call 316-263-2769.

This story was originally published December 18, 2015 at 3:45 PM with the headline "Share the Season: Theft of car, purse wrecks single mother’s finances."