EDITOR’S NOTE: This is another in a series of articles on the Peninsula Daily News Peninsula Home Fund. The next article will appear Sunday.
FORKS — Christina Guckenberg said she knows the importance of giving because she has been on the receiving end of life-changing generosity.
The 27-year-old mother has worked tirelessly the past few years getting back on her feet after escaping a bad relationship.
After a stay in a shelter, then a small, cramped apartment, Guckenberg and her two children, Austin, 10, and Jocelyn, 5, were able to secure a recently vacated subsidized three-bedroom home in Forks, thanks to the Peninsula Daily News’ Peninsula Home Fund.
Olympic Community Action Programs — OlyCAP — staff tapped the Peninsula Home Fund to help her pay the rental deposit required for the home.
Living paycheck to paycheck supporting her family as a full-time waitress, Guckenberg didn’t have enough saved up to put a deposit down on the house when it became available.
“I’m very thankful I’m here,” she said of her new home.
The Peninsula Home Fund is a safety net for residents in Clallam and Jefferson counties to get them through emergency situations when there is nowhere else to turn.
The fund was established by North Olympic Peninsula residents digging deep into their hearts and wallets to give their neighbors “a hand up, not a handout” to get through an emergency situation.
Every penny, every dollar, donated goes — without any deductions for administration or overhead — to making life better for children, teens, families and the elderly from Port Townsend to Forks, from Quilcene and Brinnon to LaPush.
The fund is used for hot meals for seniors, warm winter coats for kids, home repairs for the low income, needed eyeglasses and prescription drugs, dental work, safe, drug-free temporary housing . . . the list goes on and on.
“It’s a great organization,” Guckenberg said.
“There is no way I could have moved in here without their help.”
No deductions
From Thanksgiving through Dec. 31, the PDN’s Peninsula Home Fund is seeking contributions for its annual holiday season fund-raising campaign.
The Home Fund is unique and nonprofit.
* No money is deducted for administration or other overhead.
* All contributions are fully IRS tax-deductible.
* Your personal information is kept confidential. Peninsula Daily News does not rent, sell, give or otherwise share your address or other information with anyone, or make any other use of it.
* All instances of help are designed to get an individual or family through the crisis — and back on the path to self-sufficiency. That’s the “hand up, not a handout” focus of the fund.
* OlyCAP — Olympic Community Action Programs, the No. 1 emergency care agency on the North Olympic Peninsula — screens applicants and manages the PDN’s Peninsula Home Fund.
Its 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.
Spent by Dec. 31
Begun in 1989, the Peninsula Home Fund is supported entirely by Jefferson and Clallam residents.
Individuals, couples, businesses and school groups set a new record for contributions in 2004 — $108,514.54.
All of that money is expected to be spent by Dec. 31.
As of early December the fund had helped more than 1,400 individuals and families.
* Peninsula Home Fund contributions are often used in conjunction with money from churches, service clubs and other donors, enabling OlyCAP to stretch the value of the contribution.
* Money is usually distributed in small amounts, usually up to $100.
* Assistance is limited to one time in a 12-month period.
To apply for a grant from the fund, phone OlyCAP at 360-452-4726 (Clallam County) or 360-385-2571 (Jefferson County).
If you have any questions about the fund, contact John Brewer, Peninsula Daily News editor and publisher, at 360-417-3500. Or e-mail him at john.brewer@peninsuladailynews.com.
How to donate
A gift of any size is welcome.
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.
To donate, write a check to “Peninsula Home Fund” and attach it to the coupon that you can generate by clicking on the “Peninsula Home Fund” button at the left.
Mail both items to Peninsula Home Fund, Peninsula Daily News, P.O. Box 1330, Port Angeles 98362.
Or drop them at the newspaper’s offices in Port Townsend, Sequim or Port Angeles.
Again, all contributions are fully IRS tax-deductible.
You will receive a written thank you and acknowledgment of your contribution.
Peninsula Daily News publishes stories every Wednesday and Sunday during the fundraising campaign listing contributors and reporting on how the fund works.
