Share the Season: Mom can’t cover bills after work hours are cut in half

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.

She says she holds a good-paying job, but her work hours and days have been sliced in half in response to company-wide layoffs.

That, coupled with bankruptcy fueled by a divorce last year, left this 42-year-old woman unable to cover all of her bills. She worries that her 12-year-old daughter will feel the stress.

The change at work “could not come at a worse time,” she wrote in her application to Share the Season, asking for financial help. She works one week, is off the next. It’s “very, very unstable,” she said.

“I was just starting to recover from the past year. I do not want my daughter to worry about things this year, too.”

The woman, in a phone interview, said Share the Season paid money toward her electric, natural gas and water bills.

“I just cried. I had no idea that there was a program out there that could help, and I didn’t feel like I was getting a handout. It made all the difference for our Christmas,” the woman said by phone.

She said she hopes to someday repay the program, which is funded through private donations. She heard about it through a friend.

“There are a lot of good people out there in Wichita,” the woman said. “When I’m back on my feet, I hope to be on the other side to be able to donate next year.”

So far, Share the Season has raised more than $60,000.

Send contributions to Share the Season at the Wichita Community Foundation, 301 N. Main, Suite 100, Wichita, KS 67202. If you have questions, call 316-264-4880.

To donate online, go to www.sharetheseason.org.

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 midnight Dec. 19. For more information, call 316-263-2769.

This story was originally published November 29, 2014 at 4:15 PM with the headline "Share the Season: Mom can’t cover bills after work hours are cut in half."