(EDITOR’S NOTE — Please see related story today, https://giftsnap.shop/article/20130113/NEWS/301139993/out-of-the-rain-thanks-to-peninsula-home-fund , the latest in a series of stories about how Peninsula Home Fund operates and who benefits from our readers’ generosity.)
GENEROUS READERS POWER the Peninsula Daily News’ “hand up, not a handout” Peninsula Home Fund.
But on little yellow notes and on fancy stationery, donors sometimes try to turn the tables when they send in their checks.
They thank the PDN for this safety net used in 2012 by about 3,000 individuals, couples and families (many with children) in Jefferson and Clallam counties when they suddenly faced an emergency situation and found no help elsewhere.
We appreciate the notes, but, respectfully, the honors go entirely to you.
Our thanks to you all.
The fund only succeeds because of your compassionate support.
And sometimes, there’s not that much distance between those receiving the benefits and those writing the checks.
The employees of the Clallam County Road Department said in a letter accompanying their $400 gift:
“We are proud to support your fund again this year. Even though our employees are feeling the effects of the economy slump, they still stepped up to the plate.”
‘Shoestring philanthropy’
Reader contributions to the Home Fund shoulder lives onto new paths — paying for hot meals for seniors, meeting rent, energy and transportation needs, warm winter coats for kids, home repairs for the low-income, needed eyeglasses and prescription drugs, dental work, safe and drug-free temporary housing . . . the list goes on and on.
Thanks to you, a record-breaking $268,137 was contributed to the Home Fund for use in 2013, as we reported last Sunday.
Thousands of dollars in last-minute contributions arrived at the end of our holiday campaign after the fund had been lagging behind last year’s pace.
The final total for the 2012 campaign from Thanksgiving to New Year’s Eve smashed the old record of $254,593 set Dec. 31, 2011.
Thank you!
Equally impressive is the 2012 tally of selfless donors: 1,190.
Thank you!
The PDN’s duty with our partner, Olympic Community Action Programs — OlyCAP, the No. 1 emergency-care agency in our two counties — is to make sure the money is used fully and responsibly.
Instances of help are designed to get an individual or family through a crisis — and every effort is made to put them back on the path to self-sufficiency.
The Home Fund is not a welfare program.
The average amount of help this year was about $57, with a limit of one grant (which can’t exceed $150) from the fund within 12 months.
And, as needed, Peninsula Home Fund contributions often are used in conjunction with money from churches and other agencies, enabling OlyCAP to stretch your dollars.
While there are signs that the economy is starting to turn around, as I wrote last Sunday, those who have most felt the effects from our sustained economic anxiety still struggle.
Too many are still out of work.
Some are facing foreclosure.
Many more are wondering how they’re going to heat their homes and provide for their families this winter.
The relief provided by the Home Fund is real and deeply appreciated.
OlyCAP manages the fund for the PDN, screens the applicants — and provides life-changing services to those who need a “hand up, not a handout.”
Every penny goes to OlyCAP to help the most vulnerable members of our community, from infants to families to seniors.
Fund never closes
The books on the 2012 fund drive are now closed.
But the Peninsula Home Fund itself never closes.
Donations of any amount are always welcome.
They can be sent at any time to Peninsula Home Fund, Peninsula Daily News, P.O. Box 1330, Port Angeles, WA 98362.
Or click on the Home Fund logo at www.peninsuladailynews.com.
New contributions will go toward the 2013 campaign.
All Peninsula Home Fund contributions are fully IRS tax-deductible. (See accompanying story, at right)
Bridging the chasm
Always showing respect and kindness to people who don’t always receive that in their daily lives, Home Fund staff’s most important goal is to get the individual or family through a crisis and back to self-sufficiency.
Whenever possible, Peninsula Home Fund case managers work with each individual or family to develop a plan to become financially stable — and avoid a recurrence of the emergency that prompted aid from the fund.
The fund is not set up to hand out money passively.
Recipients play active roles in their own success, their own rehabilitation, their own empowerment, their own futures.
That’s the “hand up, not a handout” focus of the Home Fund.
Applying for a grant
To apply for a Peninsula Home Fund grant, phone OlyCAP at 360-452-4726 (Clallam County) or 360-385-2571 (Jefferson County).
■ OlyCAP’s Port Angeles office is at 228 W. First St., Suite J (Armory Square Mall); 360-452-4726.
■ Its Port Townsend office is at 803 W. Park Ave.; 360-385-2571.
■ The Forks/West End office is at 421 Fifth Ave.; 360-374-6193.
OlyCAP’s website: www.olycap.org; email: action@olycap.org.
If you have any questions about the fund, phone me — John Brewer, Peninsula Daily News publisher and editor — at 360-417-3500.
Or email john.brewer@peninsuladailynews.com.
A donor’s personal information is kept confidential.
The PDN does not rent, sell, give or otherwise share your address or other information with anyone or make any other use of it.
2012-2013 donors
We received three 2012 campaign’s final donations that were not listed in last Sunday’s story.
And we have received new contributions that will allow us to jump-start the 2013 drive.
As we start a new year with hopes of good health and prosperity, we thank our readers again for making a difference in the lives — and futures — of our neighbors:
Donations as of Jan. 12 for our 2013 campaign (some duplicate a partial list last Sunday):
■ Virginia Musser, Port Angeles (2012 donor).
■ Olympic Suites Inn, Forks (2012 donor).
■ Thomas and Rita Thatcher, Sequim (2012 donor). In honor and memory of our son, Tim, and our sister, Nina; and also to honor our son, Todd. They all have, and continue to, make us proud!
■ Employees of Clallam County Road Department — $400. We are proud to support your fund again this year. Even though our employees are feeling the effects of the economy slump, they still stepped up to the plate. Thank you for all the work you do to help those in need.
■ Anonymous, Sequim — $200.
■ Anonymous, Port Angeles — $50.
■ AMS Audio Enterprises Inc.
■ Olympic Springs Inc.
■ Wesley R. Ringius, Port Angeles. In loving honor of Emily Ringius.
■ Anonymous, Mojave, Calif. — $20.
■ Anonymous, Sequim — $25.
■ Carla Michaels, Sequim.
■ Anonymous, Port Angeles — $25. In memory of Cheryl Mayer.
■ DeDe Hansen, Port Angeles.
■ Marjorie Carpenter, Port Angeles. In memory of Harold Andreson.
■ Pam and Paul Cunningham, Port Angeles.
■ Anonymous, Sequim — $50.
■ Marci Newlon, Sequim. In memory of Richard (Dick) Newlon.
■ Anonymous, Port Angeles — $200.
■ Nancy McDonald, $150. In memory of Robert “Mac” McDonald.
■ Georgia Fraker, Port Angeles — $50.
■ Beverly J. Kinney, Sequim. In memory of Lyle B. Kinney.
■ Nancy Blackmer, Port Townsend.
■ Richard and Barbara Jepson, Sequim.
■ Carol L. Martell, Port Angeles. In memory of Ric Prael.
■ Anonymous, Port Angeles — $50.
■ Darryl and Shelley Wolfe, Port Angeles — $50. In memory of Lucy Marie Bay.
■ ExxonMobile Foundation Mobile Retiree Matching Gifts Program (Stanley Johann).
■ Fidelity Charitable (Grace’s Bounty Fund) — $500.
■ Sandy Frankfurth, Sequim. In loving memory of my mom.
■ Lois Mahaney, Port Angeles — $100.
