Three days before Christmas in 2015, Kris Miller’s two sons, ages 5 and 7, were super-excited for Santa to come. But Miller found herself feeling overwhelmed with the idea of how many gifts they would be getting and how it all just felt like a little too much.
She mentioned to her husband that there must be local parents who were feeling the opposite way—that it was just days before Christmas and maybe they were faced with having nothing for their children, not even a family meal. Her thoughts were on families that had fallen through the cracks of the various organizations that help, parents that had never been in a position of needing help before, or who had suffered a difficult year (medically or financially) and couldn’t recover in time for the holidays.
Miller wanted to find those parents. Late into the night, she was on the computer searching through forums and posts about families in need. She found four families that first year. One family was asking for help with a family meal. One family was asking for a few presents for a six-year-old boy. One family was asking for some clothes for their three teenagers. And one family was living in their car with two young children and desperate for any help. She decided to reach out to her Bella Casa neighbors to see if anyone wanted to join in this last-minute endeavor. She points to the overwhelming response she received as the moment that “Bella Angels” was born.
Within minutes, someone had ordered the first family a full holiday meal to be picked up at Harris Teeter. Miller’s front porch was covered in gifts for the six-year-old boy, the teens, and the mothers of both families. Money poured in to get the young family out of their car and into a hotel room that afternoon, as well as gifts and food. People came over and helped wrap the many items that were dropped off and Miller delivered everything to four incredibly grateful mothers that year.
“I could not believe how this neighborhood came together so quickly to help these families,” Miller shared.
Throughout the next year, Miller wondered how many more families could be helped if they worked together with a little more time to plan. In 2016, with incredible support from the neighborhood, they were able to help 30 families with gifts and stockings for their children.
Then in late 2017, as she was collecting gifts for 37 families, she noticed that people were asking if they could donate gently used items such as clothes and toys as well. Just like that, the Bella Angels “store” came to be.
For the last few weeks before the gift pick-up event, Miller collected gently used books, clothes, toys, bikes, household items, and more. When the families came to pick up their gifts, they were also able to “shop” for free at the “store,” which was held in a small neighborhood clubhouse.
Miller recalled how her house was bursting at the seams that year. She wasn’t sure if they would be able to collect more for the store the following year.
“The day of the event, Amy Riley and Deborah Jenkins, who were helping me run the pick-up day, came to me and said that they wanted to help. They wanted to take over collecting and
running the ‘free store’ portion. I very happily accepted their offer and hope they don’t regret joining me on this journey,” she remembered. Miller also noted that Alleta Emberland, her trusted and valued partner in any and all projects she takes on, has been helping from the very beginning.
Heading into 2018, Bella Angels now had a small team of people planning and collecting throughout the year. Miller praised the team noting that the amount of work that these ladies devote to collecting, sorting, replacing batteries, labeling, cleaning, and so on is incredible. In 2019, they partnered with the Peak Church in Apex, which generously let them use their space and donated many new items for the teen section of the store.
“That year, we were able to help 111 families and 281 children with the holidays,” she said.
In 2020, Bella Angels helped over 500 kids and over 160 families. But, the year of the pandemic created a need in the community that went way beyond Christmas. They found themselves helping with an extra month of rent, they bought a camper for a homeless family, they paid some utility bills to keep the lights on, among other critical needs.
It became clear to Bella Angels that it was time to become an official charity that could reach beyond the holiday season. So, in March of 2021, Bella Angels Inc. was officially and formally founded. “We filed for our 501(c)(3) status, and we look forward to helping our local community in new and greater ways,” Miller said.
In addition to the holiday-centric programs and events that are at the core of what Bella Angels does, Miller’s son Charlie started a Bella Angels Inc. program called “Everyone Needs to Read” when he was in middle school. Miller explained that Charlie, “The Library Builder,” is an avid reader and thought everyone should have access to books. This program supplies the December holiday store with approximately 1,000 books as well as supports and facilitates deliveries to individual families that request a personalized bag of books dropped at their front door throughout the year.
Beyond his grassroots effort, Charlie has reached out to every elementary school principal within a 25-mile radius, as well as local daycares over the years, but has never heard back. “He would love to get books into the hands of kids that need them and any contacts or input from the community that could help would be great,” Miller urged. Charlie is now a junior in high school with college on the horizon and she said he would love to get the books in his collection into the hands of people who could use them before he leaves, and the program most likely comes to an end.
Today, Bella Angels is in its 10th year as a fully volunteer-based nonprofit organization. They don’t have any paid staff and their board, in addition Miller, consists of a vice-president (Deborah Jenkins), secretary (Amy Riley), treasurer (Alleta Emberland), and special programs director (Tina Vithoulkas). Learn more about Bella Angels and see how you can help by visiting www.bellaangels.org.
