A grandmother caring for two small children received help with her utility bills.
An out-of-work logger got money to obtain prescribed medicine.
A fourth-grade student got the glasses he needs to do his school work in Port Townsend.
Material was provided to help a volunteer group assist a Port Angeles woman with repairs to her mobile home.
A Forks woman received a load of wood to heat her house.
Using the money donated in 2005, nearly 1,400 individuals and households received $99,544 in help so far this year from the PDN’s Peninsula Home Fund.
From Thanksgiving to New Year’s Eve, the Peninsula Home Fund — a safety net for residents in Jefferson and Clallam when there is nowhere else to turn — is seeking contributions for its annual holiday season fundraising campaign.
No deductions
Beginning this Sunday, the PDN will publish stories every Wednesday and Sunday during the campaign listing contributors and reporting on how the fund works.
The Peninsula Home Fund is a unique, nonprofit program:
* No money is deducted for administration or other overhead.
* All contributions are fully IRS tax-deductible.
* 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.
* Money is used to give families and individuals “a hand up, not a handout” to get through an emergency situation.
* All instances of help are designed to get an individual or family through the crisis — and back on the path to self-sufficiency.
* Every penny, 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 Port Townsend to Forks, from Quilcene and Brinnon to LaPush.
All the money collected goes — without any deductions — to families in Jefferson and Clallam counties for 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.
* 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.
Spent by Dec. 31
Now in its 16th year, the 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.
All of that money is expected to be spent by Dec. 31.
The fund is managed for the Peninsula Daily News by OlyCAP — nonprofit Olympic Community Action Programs — the No. 1 emergency care agency on the North Olympic Peninsula.
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.
To apply for a grant from the fund, call 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.
* Money is usually distributed in small amounts, usually up to $100.
* Assistance is limited to one time in a 12-month period.
OlyCAP’s Port Angeles office is 228 W. First St., Suite J (Armory Square Mall); 360-452-4726.
Its Port Townsend office is at 24 Seton Road (P.O. Box 1540, Port Townsend 98368); 360-385-2571.
The Forks office is at the community Recreation Center (across from City Hall), 651 E. Division St.; 360-374-6193.
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 in contributions and has grown every year.
The final total of $108,514 for the 2004 campaign smashed the old record set in 2003 of $77,608.
The 2005 fund drive also set a record for the number of contributions — 801 from individuals, couples, businesses, churches, clubs and school groups.
How to donate
From children’s pennies to checks for thousands of dollars, the generosity of Peninsula Daily News readers makes a positive difference.
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 appears in the Thanksgiving Day edition. The coupon will soon be posted on this Web site.
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.