Empty Stocking Fund - Saint John

The Empty Stocking Fund is a musical telethon raising money to provide children in the Saint John area a happy holiday. 103 years of kids helping kids. The story goes like this: it was a few nights before Christmas when a reporter for the old Saint John Evening Standard (now the Telegraph Journal) -- Harry (Dutch) Ervin - saw two poor children looking at a department store's toy display from the street. When he returned to the newsroom, he passed the hat and collected $30 to buy Christmas gifts for Saint John's needy children. Soon, word spread of Harry's crusade and by Christmas Eve, the pot had grown to $700.