Earl Freudenberg: Memories Of The Forgotten Child Fund

Christmas eve is almost as important as Christmas day.  Many families will get together for a meal and open their gifts.  Others will attend a worship service to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.  But since 1964 a group of dedicated emergency workers have gathered to deliver toys and Christmas cheer to needy families in our community. It’s the Forgotten Child Fund. The fund will provide Christmas for nearly 12,000 children this year. 

 

The fund was founded by Chattanooga officer Johnny Wright in 1963 after he answered a call to Blair’s Alley.  He was touched by several children living in poverty.  The next year Officer Wright was joined by Sgt.

Charlie Reno, Free Press photographer George Moody, Tommy Eason and Roy Morris from Channel 3.

 

I learned about the Forgotten Child Fund in 1965.  It was two Sundays before Christmas when the late Ray Hobbs showed up about 11 a.m. at WDOD where I was working.   He was accompanied by about a dozen police officers, firefighters and other emergency personnel.  Mr. Hobbs strung a mic cable to the front of the radio station on Baylor School Road.  After the morning church service, Hobbs began to broadcast telling the Forgotten Child Fund story.  It was cold and damp and about 3 p.m. Hobbs came into the studio and said, “Earl, you get the drill,” you go outside and announce while I play the records.  The next week the phone rang. It was Cpt. U.H. Bettis.  He said, “Earl, you seemed to enjoy yourself Sunday, would you like to join us?”  That began an association that lasted past the year 2000.  

 

I was very impressed with the volunteers who wanted to make sure less fortunate children got a Christmas.  They spent November and part of December packing boxes.  Harry Eidex operated a business on Main Street and opened a back room that became our toy story.  Several hundred children received a Christmas, thanks to the fund.  Officer Wright said he could not stand the thought that Santa overlooked some children who couldn’t help their circumstances and needed a Christmas. School patrol officers got involved and located needy kids. They also collected money.

 

School Patrol Chief Jeanette Wilkerson and Deputy Chief Peggie Bullard started coordinating the fund.  There were plenty of volunteers to pack boxes, but money was short. Cpt. Bettis asked me about broadcasting from the Woolworths store at Eastgate to raise money. He knew the manager.   I think $1,200 was raised - enough to pay that year's bills.

  

I went into the Army in 1970, but during Christmas break the first call was from Cpt. Bettis. "Earl, we want you to do another broadcast. WDOD manager Bill Nash has made all the arrangements and all you have to do is show up." 

 

After the Army, one of the first calls I got was from Cpt. Bettis. "Earl, you are still a board member and we meet next week. We need you.” The fund was strapped for money.  Cpt. Bettis asked me to come up with some way to help pay the toy bills.  The need exceeded our pocketbook.  A golf tournament was held at Valleybrook, raising thousands of dollars. With WDOD general manager Nash’s blessings, we did remote broadcasts from Northgate and Brainerd Village for many years. I also used the Sunday morning Sound Off program to ask for donations.  George Moody went to News Free Press Editor Lee Anderson and the FCF was placed under the newspaper's Christmas fund.  Donations started to come in, but they didn’t cover all our expenses.  Down through the seasons, three Chattanooga attorneys, without any publicity, took care of the deficits.  They were Bates Bryan, Russell Bean and Jerry Summers. They would go to their lawyer friends and come up with enough money to pay our bills.  Chattanooga and Hamilton County officials also got behind the fund.  WRCB General Manager Tom Tolar came up with the idea to do a live telecast from Lake Winnepesaukah.  Park officials liked the idea.  Many other businesses and civic organizations started supporting the Forgotten Child Fund.

 

The major expense for the fund was the telephone.  I remember going to General Manager Patsy Hazelwood and asking if we could have a break.  She said they can’t do that, but she wrote us a personal check for three months.

 

I have many stories, but I’ll only share a few.  We were broadcasting from Brainerd Village and a father approached one of our volunteers. His family had lost everything in a house fire. It had been on the news. The FCF took care of the family.  The next year I was on the air at Northgate.  That same father came up to me and handed me a $100 bill.  He said, “Remember me from last year?”  The dad said, "We’ve recovered, and we want to help this year."

 

It was on one Santa Train we visited a house in St. Elmo.  The mother greeted Cpt. Bettis and myself at the door.  She shared a bit about the family.  We walked into the kitchen. The mother showed us their Christmas lunch - a can of soup.  Both of us left the house wiping our eyes.

 

Then there was the small house in Woodland Heights.  Chief Wilkerson learned of this family.  There was a mother and five children.  It was very clean, but I really don’t know how they lived.  Our longtime treasurer Same Swope made sure the family had food for Christmas.

 

After one Santa train, Cpt. Bettis got a call on his police radio.  The dispatcher said this mother of several children called and was crying.  Cpt. Bettis hurriedly put together a box of toys and food.  He called someone at the power board and got their electricity turned back on.  It was a very long evening, but there was a good feeling when I finally got to bed.

 

My daughter, Amy, became interested in the fund.  In 1995, Julies Parker with the News Free Press asked Amy to write an article about the Santa Train for the Christmas edition. I was very proud of what she said. “As the Santa train pulled up to another home, a little girl was overheard asking a Chattanooga policeman, 'Are you here to take my Mommy to jail?'  Wiping his eyes, the officer hugged the child and assured her that was not the case." Amy went on to say, “Christmas is not the same until you have seen the gleam in childrens’ eyes as they exclaim, 'Mom, there really is a Santa Claus.'" Amy’s article said some of the homes visited by the Santa Train did not have heat or electricity.  But the smiles of happiness warmed volunteers’ hearts.  As Santa and his helpers returned to the Forgotten Child Santa toy store, "the jolly ole man wished everyone a Merry Christmas.”

 

When you start mentioning individuals, you leave someone out.  But one person stands out in my mind, and that was the late Mayor Gene Roberts.  With a telephone call, the mayor could make things happen.   

 

For many years I covered the Chattanooga City Commission meetings.  Commissioner Jim Eberle asked Mayor Pat Rose to stop the meeting. Comm. Eberle said Earl is here and we need to take up a collection.  Several hundred dollars were raised.  Hamilton County Sheriff H.Q. Evatt called me one day and he said a good friend had $5,000  but wanted no publicity.

 

My stories are endless. Coming forward to today, the fund continues to operate from a nice facility on East Main Street.  Kelly Simmons, a veteran Chattanooga firefighter, is president. He could not do the job without his wife.  There are many others, including Hamilton County Deputy Sheriff Austin Garrett.  Chief Garrett recently gave my friend, Ben Cagle, and myself a tour. 

 

Robert Starnes has played Santa Claus for nearly 35 years.  Starnes' father worked for the Tennessee Highway Patrol and he helped us for many years.  Before Johnny Wright's death, he and his wife accompanied Starnes on the Santa Train.  If you see flashing red and blue lights in your neighborhood, it’s Santa and his helpers.  If you have a few extra dollars I’m sure the fund could use the help.

 

The fund also oversees WTVC's Coats for Kids.  The three Chattanooga television stations play an important role in getting out the message.  We could not have made it without the Chattanooga News Free Press coverage.  My employer, WDOD, never sent us a bill for all the radio time.  There were thousands of hours.

 

Ken Holloway and Ray Fox hosted a fundraiser at the Mountain Opry on Signal Mountain.

 

In recent years, we held Bar-B-Q’s in front of the WDOD studio on the river.  So many provided entertainment.  Most all the elected officials helped out.

 

Thanks to the late Tony Kennedy, a picture of an early Forgotten Child Fund board of directors hangs on the wall at Wally’s on McCallie Avenue.

 

A lot of the emergency workers have passed away. If I started naming them, I’d leave someone out. There are too many to mention.

 

When I look back, I never dreamed in 1965 the Forgotten Child Fund would become one of Chattanooga’s premier charities at Christmas. I want to thank everyone who had a part in the Forgotten Child Fund. I was honored to work with such a dedicated bunch and contribute a small part to the organization. It took all of us working together to make it happen. Merry Christmas. 

 

(Photos are by Earl Freudenberg and Al Alexander)

 

* * *

 

 Contact Earl Freudenberg at heyearl1971@comcast.net