We’re in the home stretch of the Peninsula Home Fund campaign.
Although donations are accepted year-round, a special push is made between Thanksgiving and the last day of the year.
So far, generous donors have provided more than $162,894 to help their neighbors on the North Olympic Peninsula in 2017.
Donations collected by the PDN go to Olympic Community Action Programs (OlyCAP), the No. 1 emergency-care agency in Clallam and Jefferson counties, where case workers screen applicants and carefully distribute the funds.
The Peninsula Home Fund provides a hand up, not a handout. It pays for the little things that loom large — eyeglasses or a water heater a person can’t afford to replace, an unexpected repair of the car that provides transportation to work, a utility bill, a rental deposit to get out of the cold.
None of the disbursements are large.
The cap per individual is $350 annually.
Donations also don’t have to be large. The Peninsula Home Fund has never been a campaign of heavy hitters.
If you can contribute only a few dollars, please don’t hesitate because you think it won’t make a difference.
Every gift makes a difference, regardless of its size. It creates a safety net for your neighbors on the North Olympic Peninsula when there is nowhere else to turn.
No money is deducted by the Peninsula Daily News for administration fees or any other overhead.
Every penny goes to OlyCAP, which uses it to help the most vulnerable members of our community, from infants to families to seniors.
Please note: Because of heavy community demands, the loss of grants because of the economy and recent cuts in government funding, OlyCAP beginning in 2012 was permitted to use 10 percent — 10 cents of every dollar donated — to pay for the vital programs and services for Home Fund clients. (Previously there were no deductions.)
OlyCAP has kept it in the area of 8 percent, a fraction of the average overhead of other nonprofits.
All contributions are IRS tax-deductible to the fullest extent of the law for the year in which the check is written.
Your personal information is kept confidential.
PDN does not rent, sell, give or otherwise share your address or other information with anyone or make any other use of it.
To apply for a Peninsula Home Fund grant, contact one of the three OlyCAP offices:
• OlyCAP’s Port Angeles office is at 228 W. First St., Suite J (Armory Square Mall); 360-452-4726. For Port Angeles and Sequim-area residents.
• Its Port Townsend office is at 823 Commerce Loop; 360-385-2571. For Jefferson County residents.
• The Forks office is at 421 Fifth Ave.; 360-374-6193. For West End residents.
Leave a message in the voice mail box at any of the three numbers, and a Home Fund caseworker will phone you back.
OlyCAP’s website: www.olycap.org; email: action@olycap.org.
Dale Wilson, OlyCAP’s executive director, oversees disbursements from the Peninsula Home Fund.
To donate, write a check to “Peninsula Home Fund” and attach it to the coupon that appears in today’s PDN.
Mail both items to Peninsula Home Fund, Peninsula Daily News, P.O. Box 1330, Port Angeles, WA 98362.
You can also contribute online using a credit card. Just go to https://secure.peninsuladailynews.com/homefund.
If you have any questions about the fund, phone the PDN at 360-452-2345.
