A grandmother caring for two small children received help with her utility bills.
So far in 2001, 573 persons have received $38,598 in help — the average assistance is about $67.36 — from the Peninsula Daily News’ Peninsula Home Fund.
Through Dec. 31, the Peninsula Home Fund — a safety net for residents in Clallam and Jefferson counties when there is nowhere else to turn — is seeking contributions for its annual holiday season fund-raising campaign.
The Peninsula Home Fund is used to give families and individuals “a hand up, not a handout” to get through a crisis.
* No money is diverted for solicitation or administration.
* All contributions are fully tax-deductible.
Every dollar contributed to the Peninsula Home Fund goes to making life better for children, teens, families and the elderly across the North Olympic Peninsula — from Forks to Port Townsend, from Quilcene and Brinnon to LaPush.
All the money collected goes — without deductions — to families in Jefferson and Clallam counties:
Hot meals for seniors, warm winter coats for kids, home repairs for the low income, needed prescription drugs, dental work, safe, drug-free temporary housing, eyeglasses — the list goes on and on.
Now in its 13th year, the fund is supported entirely by Jefferson and Clallam residents.
Individuals, couples, businesses and school groups set a new record for contributions in 2000 — $42,703.
All of that is expected to be spent by Dec. 31.
The fund is managed for the Peninsula Daily News by Olympic Community Action Programs, the No. 1 emergency care agency on the North Olympic Peninsula.
To apply for a grant from the fund, phone Community Action 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.
Said Brewer: “The Peninsula Home Fund was created to supplement the good work of public and private social service agencies by making sure no one falls through the cracks during the most demanding time of the year — winter.”
Money is usually distributed in small amounts, usually up to $100.
Assistance is limited to one time in a 12-month period.
The fund helps people pay their utility bills, medical bills, food, rent, clothing and car repairs.
Money from the fund also helps to provide safe, drug-free temporary housing.
Peninsula Home Fund contributions are often used in conjunction with money from churches, service clubs and other donors, enabling Community Action to stretch the value of the contribution.
Community Action has offices in Port Angeles at 505 E. Eighth St.; 360-452-4726.
The Port Townsend office is at 24 Seton Road (P.O. Box 1540, PT 98368); 360-385-2571.
Its Web site: www.olycap.org; e-mail: action@olycap.org. Tim L. Hockett, deputy director, oversees the Peninsula Home Fund.
The fund started in 1989 with $2,000 and has grown every year.
Last year’s record-smashing campaign total of $42,703 was an increase from 1999’s $30,734.18.
More than half of the money collected in 2000 has been distributed for paying utility bills ($7,052), rent ($10,485) and prescriptions ($3,261).
About a fifth has paid for food ($7,303).
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.
To donate, write a check to “Peninsula Home Fund” and attach it to the coupon that appears on Page A2 of today’s Sunday Peninsula Daily News.
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 (addresses and hours appear below).
Contributions will be accepted until Dec. 31. Again, all contributions are tax-deductible.
You will receive a written thank you and acknowledgment of your contribution.
The Peninsula Daily News will publish stories every Wednesday and Sunday during the campaign listing contributors and reporting on how the fund works.