RING OUT 2014 by offering struggling families “a hand up, not a handout” through the Peninsula Daily News’ Peninsula Home Fund.
Today is the last day to make a donation and get a receipt for a tax deduction for 2014.
What the Home Fund will do for our neighbors in Jefferson and Clallam counties next year depends on how much is raised this year.
With one day left in 2014, the Home Fund so far has collected $239,481 for use in 2015.
This year, using the $268,389 raised in 2013, the Home Fund helped 1,258 families — 3,951 individuals, as we reported Tuesday.
These are local people that our partner, OlyCAP — nonprofit Olympic Community Action Programs, — wouldn’t have been able to help otherwise.
“There are many lives that can be touched in 2015 through the Peninsula Home Fund — and it all depends on what is donated right now,” says Geoff Crump, CEO of OlyCAP.
Donating today
There is still time, and reason, to help.
To donate online today using a credit card, push the “Home Fund — Click Here to Donate” button at www.peninsuladailynews.com.
Or go directly to the donation webpage — https://secure.peninsuladailynews.com/homefund.
You can also use the donation coupon at the right — and mail it with a check dated today.
If you wish to make your donation by phone, or have any questions about the fund, please call me, John Brewer, PDN publisher and editor, at 360-417-3500.
Or email me at john.brewer@peninsuladailynews.com.
For 26 years, the Home Fund has helped thousands of families across the North Olympic Peninsula.
OlyCAP, the Peninsula’s No. 1 emergency care agency in our two counties, oversees the Home Fund for the PDN, screening the applicants and carefully distributing the funds.
No money is deducted by the Peninsula Daily News for administration fees or any other overhead.
Every penny goes to OlyCAP to help the most vulnerable members of our community, from infants to families to seniors.
Assistance, which usually averages less than $100, is also limited to one time in a 12-month period.
The average amount of help this year has been $69.16 per person.
But even though the dollar figures are small, the impact can be big, in huge, life-changing ways.
“Many times the Home Fund is able to remove that one barrier to an entire family’s success,” says Crump.
A job, and a bad tooth
Crump told this story to me:
Randy had been out of work for nine months.
Through support from OlyCAP and partners, Randy was able to access food, temporary jobs and training that positioned him for an offer of permanent employment.
Unfortunately, a toothache left him in so much pain he was afraid he would be physically unable to meet the demands of the job.
Thanks to the Home Fund and a partnership between OlyCAP, the VIMO [free clinic in Port Angeles] and local Port Angeles dentists,
Randy was able to get his tooth extracted, and he accepted the job offer . . . pain-free.
It was the cost of the tooth extraction that was holding Randy from getting fully back on his feet to support his family.
Randy now relies on no assistance from OlyCAP or other service organizations.
He is successful in his new job.
It is the Home Fund that opened the door for Randy and his family.
Story of Thanksgiving
This past Thanksgiving Eve, Nov. 26, the Home Fund helped a man named Bryan move from the camper on his truck into a single-wide trailer.
Crump told me what happened:
Bryan has been living out of his camper with fairly severe medical problems.
He was given the opportunity to rehab a trailer that would give him an actual home where he could get healthy and back on his feet.
Bryan did all of the work to the trailer himself, insulating the windows, fixing some flooring. He did many other repair jobs.
But he couldn’t move in until the bathroom plumbing was fixed.
Accessing the Home Fund, Bryan was able to get an inexpensive plumbing fix completed on his trailer.
It allowed him to move in that very same day.
On Thanksgiving, Bryan shared in a community meal, and afterwards he had a place to go home.
Home Fund grants
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 phones, and a Home Fund caseworker will phone you back.
