Dad's injury leads family to Salvation Army

David is playing catch-up to pay the bills and provide for his 8- year-old son, a job made more difficult after a head injury forced David out of work for more than a month.

"I went to stop and get change at a bar. I was there maybe five minutes and the fight broke out," he said.

"Being in the wrong place at the wrong time got my head smacked. This can be a lesson to wait in the long lines at the bank next time."

David, 32, who asked that his last name not be used, went back to work in early November. But he's a month behind on most bills and has turned to the Salvation Army for help.

"I'm looking to start my own concrete business, but I don't have the backup, the help," he said. "There's pretty much nothing I can't do with cement. A little extra work would help."

Meanwhile, he works as a cement finisher. He doesn't know if he'll be able to give his son what he wants for Christmas: a bike.

The boy's mother isn't in his life. She walked out when he was 16 months old.

"She hasn't even called for his birthday, for Christmas, nothing," David said. "I don't even know if she's alive."

His son's birthday was Nov. 2.

"We made him a birthday," David said. "It was slow. My first paycheck I got was $100. I bought him a winter jacket and a pair of tennies. The Salvation Army helped with cake mix and we made him a cake."

The Salvation Army is one of 11 organizations that benefit from The Gazette-El Pomar Empty Stocking Fund. The Salvation Army helps people in need get food, clothes and medicine as well as pay rent and utilities.

David's counselor at Salvation Army said, "He and his son deserve a good opportunity to get their family back on track."

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