Font ResizeLAS CRUCES - Wanda Bowman has to take the letters home before she can read them, so heartbreaking are the stories within.
"I start crying," she said Saturday. "I don't want to sit at the store crying."
The store is Ashley Furniture HomeStore, 3288 Del Rey Blvd., which will be fulfilling the Christmas wishes of a to-be-determined number of local families in need of a child's bed, a grandmother's recliner or a family's dining room table. It's the seventh year the Bowmans have been giving back with their "All I Want For Christmas" giveaway, which last year helped 11 families' Christmas wishes come true.
"They have such simple needs," said Bowman, who got the idea for the giveaway from a store in Arizona that had the same tradition. "They'd like to have a nice mattress to sleep on. They'd like a table that the whole family could sit around, a couch that has all the cushions there. They don't see it as a Santa Claus, 'I want' list. It's a need. They have something that could be wonderful for them to have. Last year, there was a mother who had moved into a house and wanted her little girl to have a bed to call her own. It seems like a given, right? But if you have to share with three or four siblings, it's not your own bed. Some things are so nice to call your own."
More than one out of every four residents of Do a Ana County lives in poverty, with an average per capita income of $13,999. Hearing the stories about what those numbers actually mean to fellow community
"One that stands out the most, I believe she was a bus driver here in town and couldn't afford day care, so she was riding around with her daughter on the bus all day," Chacon said.
Then, there were the letters that came in after the 2006 flooding, the stories of families whose mattresses were ruined, reducing them to sleeping on air mattresses or the floor.
"Seeing what's actually out there, I think everyone pretty much ignores it and assumes everything's good," Chacon said. "Reading all these letters, it's more emotional."
After Wednesday, which is the last day letters can be submitted, letters will go to a secret panel of community leaders, who pick the neediest, most worthy candidates - whether there are seven or 15, Bowman said.
For almost four decades, the community has been so good to the store's family, Bowman said. They just want to give back, to share a little of their blessings.
So do most of the letter-writers, she said. The majority write on behalf of families they know, who might feel ashamed asking for themselves.
"We're seeing a lot of families who have been doing without basics ... they do without a kitchen table, they do without a sofa, they do without enough mattresses," Bowman said. "The (recipients) themselves think, 'Well, there are others needier than I am. So I won't ask for me.'"
Ashley Meeks can be reached at (575) 541-5462.
A helping hand
•Have you or someone you know suffered an economic hardship or life-altering event and are not able to furnish your home? Write a letter explaining the situation and send it to Wanda Bowman, Ashley Furniture HomeStore, care of All I Want For Christmas, 3299 Del Rey Blvd., Las Cruces, N.M., 88012, or e-mail to christmaswithashley@hotmail.com. Letters must be received by Wednesday. More information is available by calling (575) 523-3933.
