You outdid yourselves.
Generous donors — 1,093 households or groups — contributed $264,486 to the Peninsula Home Fund during the 2016 campaign from Thanksgiving though Dec. 31.
That tops the $255,468 collected in 2015.
Thank you!
Your generosity has created a safety net for your neighbors in 2017 through funding the “hand up, not a handout” Home Fund.
The fund will allow Olympic Community Action Programs to help thousands of our friends and neighbors on the North Olympic Peninsula.
“I continue to be amazed at the generosity and compassion of the people across the Olympic Peninsula,” said Dale Wilson, executive director of Olympic Community Action Programs.
“I am equally amazed at the dedication and commitment each of you demonstrate through your words and actions that support the Home Fund.”
Compassionate donors join the Peninsula Daily News in delivering hope to thousands of individuals and families, many with young children, who suddenly face an emergency situation and can’t find help elsewhere.
Everyone who donates — whether it be $1 or $1,000 — is a partner with us in forging a stronger Peninsula community.
In the past 28 years, the Home Fund has raised more than $3.27 million to help those in need on our Peninsula.
We have been able to do so only because of you, our caring readers.
You have helped to ensure safe homes for people about to lose them because they lacked the full rent.
You gave a young mother the cash she needed to fix the vehicle that provides her transportation to school.
You provided an independent octogenarian with the money and assistance to replace her water heater and stay self-sufficient.
You helped an artist buy the glasses that allowed her to go back to creating works of art.
And those are only a few examples of the small gifts at the right time that kept your neighbors on track.
From Port Townsend to Forks, from Quilcene and Brinnon to Sequim and La Push, money from the fund has been used for hot meals for seniors, warm winter coats for kids, home repairs for a low-income family, necessary prescription drugs, dental work, safe and drug-free temporary housing, eyeglasses — the list goes on and on.
Small awards
Individuals in need never receive a large amount.
Assistance usually averages less than $100. The average amount of help this year has been $68.17 per person.
The maximum allowance per year is $350 per household.
All instances of help are designed to get an individual or family through a crisis — and back on the path to self-sufficiency.
Home Fund case managers often 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.
As needed, 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.
The goal again: “a hand up, not a handout.”
No money is deducted by the Peninsula Daily News for administration fees or any other overhead.
Every penny goes to OlyCAP.
The money goes 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 and OlyCAP do not rent, sell, give or otherwise share your address or other information with anyone or make any other use of it.
How you helped
Gifts run the gamut, from kids giving money they got in their Christmas stockings to anonymous donors who contributed through foundations to several generations who joined together to donate.
Donors also included hundreds of individuals, school groups, service clubs, recreation and employee groups and people who have given yearly since the fund began in 1989 — plus a number of past beneficiaries of the fund whose lives have improved.
For many of our readers, the fund is as much a holiday tradition as a Christmas tree or roast turkey.
A gift to the fund embodies the spirit of Christmas.
It is a chance to help neighbors in need, for no personal gain.
A check will be given as soon as possible to OlyCAP — Olympic Community Action Programs, the No. 1 emergency services agency for Jefferson and Clallam counties — so the money can begin helping our neighbors immediately.
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.”
Fund never closes
The books on the 2016 fund drive are 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.
New contributions go toward the 2017 campaign.
All Peninsula Home Fund contributions are fully IRS tax-deductible.
The fund’s IRS number, under the auspices of OlyCAP, is 91-0814319.
Your 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.
The Peninsula Home Fund is registered with the Washington secretary of state’s charities division in Olympia.
We have already received donations dated Jan. 1 and afterward that will go — with much thanks — toward the 2017 fund drive.
Applying for a grant
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 is www.olycap.org. To contact by email, write action@ olycap.org.
Dale Wilson, OlyCAP’s executive director, oversees disbursements from the Peninsula Home Fund. He can be reached at 360-385-2571 or by emailing dwilson@olypen.com.
If you have any questions about the fund, phone the PDN at 360-452-2345.
2016 donors
The following are the last of the 2016 donations, given by cash, credit cards and checks processed between Jan. 4-11.
Name and amount
• J.C. and P., Sequim, $200.
• Jerry and Jackie Schwagler, Port Angeles, $1,000. In honor of all the local volunteers who do so much for our community.
• Carl and Sue Sidle, Port Townsend, $100.
• Nancy McDonald, Port Angeles, $100. In memory of Robert “Mac” McDonald.
Name only
• Sandy and Nancy Goldstien, Sequim. In honor of Ruth Ames Olsen family — honoring mother Ruth and all the service she gave to others.
• Paul and Sharon Martin, Port Angeles.
• William Bugg, Sequim. In memory of Sharon Bugg.
• DEW, Sequim.
• Joseph Cammack, Port Angeles.
• Donna and Eric Miner, Sequim. To all single dads who parent their children.
• Jean Tyson, Port Angeles. In memory of Gary Schwedes.
• Port Townsend School of Massage, Port Townsend.
• Janet Cattano, Sequim.
• Millie Lyon, Port Angeles.
• John and Mary Wegmann, Port Angeles.
• J.K. Messerschmidt, Sequim.
• Gene and Norma Turner, Port Angeles. In memory of Eleanor Ballard and Jean Fairchild.
• Don and Betty Skidmore, Sequim.
• Erwin and Diane Jones, Sequim.
• James Pabst, Port Angeles.
• Catherine Woodahl, Sequim.
• Pat Wisen, Sequim.
• Edna and Don Chicarell, Sequim. In memory of Dominador Macalino Sr. and John Srebnack.
• Arnold and Debbie Schouten, Port Angeles.
• Rita and Tom Thatcher, Sequim. In honor of all the volunteers and employees at the Sequim and Port Angeles Serenity House Thrift Stores.
• Gary Zellmer, Sequim.
• Lloyd Bridenbaugh, Sequim.
• NO Sangha, Port Angeles.
• Grace’s Bounty Fund, Port Angeles.
• Steve and Lucy Nordwell, Port Angeles.
• Olympic Springs, Carlsborg.
• Pat Gilbert, Port Angeles. In honor of Dorothy Jensen.
• William A. Sery, Port Townsend.
• Ken Monds, Port Angeles. In memory of James Bradford Monds Jr.
• Dr. John Austin, Port Townsend.
• Carol Anne Modena, Port Townsend. In memory of Dana Roberts of Port Townsend.
• Doris Nolan, Sequim.
• Sally Rodgers, Port Townsend.
• Jim Conway, Port Townsend.
• Ron Little, Sequim.
• Jeannine Johnson, Port Angeles.
• St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, Port Angeles. In honor of the Rev. David Storm.
Amount only
• Sequim, $50.
• Sequim, $100.
• Port Angeles, $25.
• Port Angeles, $300.
• Port Angeles, $100.
• Port Angeles, $100.
• Port Angeles, $100.
• Port Angeles, $500.
• Port Angeles, $50.
• Carlsborg, $3,500.
• Port Angeles, $100.
• Sequim, $50.
• Port Angeles, $300.
• Port Angeles, $100.
• Port Angeles, $50.
• Sequim, $1,000.
• Sequim, $200.
• Sequim, $100.
• Carlsborg, $400. In honor of staff and owners of Alder Wood Bistro, Cafe Garden, Oak Table Cafe and Nourish Sequim restaurants.
• Sequim, $20.
• Port Angeles, $300.
• Port Townsend, $50.
• Port Angeles, $50.
• Port Angeles, $150.
• Port Angeles, $25.
• Sequim, $50.
• Port Townsend, $100.
• Port Angeles, $25.
• Port Townsend, $200. In memory of Jane and Robert Starkey.
_______
EVEN THE BEST handwriting can be hard to decipher at times.
Please report any errors in this list to Leah Leach, 360-417-3530 (there’s voice mail if she’s away), or email her at lleach@peninsula dailynews.com.
We’ll rerun the listing correctly.
Our sincerest appreciation again to our donors.
