EDITOR’S NOTE: For 25 years, Peninsula Daily News readers in Jefferson and Clallam counties have supported the “hand up, not a handout” Peninsula Home Fund.
More information about how the Home Fund operates and who benefits from our readers’ generosity, plus a list of new donors, will appear Sunday.
A note in pencil accompanied by a check for $100 arrives every year at Peninsula Daily News as Christmas nears.
This year, the note read:
Peninsula Home Fund:
My small gift is sent with gratitude for my many blessings.
My wife and two children have gone to heaven, and God is taking care of them.
I hope this check helps those people less fortunate here in our small portion of God’s earth, and brings smiles to their faces.
May God bless all of you for your marvelous work.
The Sequim widower who wrote the note is an Air Force veteran who has contributed to the fund since 2000.
For him, the Home Fund is about “standing up and being counted.”
It’s about making a “powerful gift that needs no wrapping paper,” he wrote in previous notes.
He carves the $100 out of a tight household budget, and he always wants the donation to be anonymous.
He’ll be in the “anonymous” portion of this coming Sunday’s list of Home Fund contributors, his donation in the PDN simply noted as “Sequim — $100” with his message.
A donor last year from Port Townsend gave $70.70 to the Home Fund. She included a note:
I know what it’s like.
It was about 50 years ago.
I want to do my part to improve someone’s future.
There was no name or city given — no ID whatsoever — on an envelope received this year.
Inside was a note, with only two words: “God’s Tithe.”
It was wrapped around a money order for $1,744.
A few years back, a $10 bill arrived, accompanied by an unsigned note in an envelope postmarked Long Beach, Calif.:
Dear Everybody at the Peninsula Home Fund:
You helped me in 2006.
Now I want to return the favor. I wish it was more, but it is all I can afford.
I want to help others in need. Thank you so much.
In addition to those whose gifts to the Home Fund are accompanied by notes expressing goodwill and compassion for their neighbors, many residents designate their contributions in memory of loved ones.
For some, the grief is fresh.
For others, the fund has become a way to honor their friend or family member each year during the holiday season.
In memory of . . .
In honor of . . .
[From] Sherman Oaks, Calif. — $400. In Honor of Patty, Randy, Sarah, Daniel and Donald. Thank you for your love and generosity. — S.
Port Angeles — $110. In honor of Vasili Arkhipov. Thank you for the last 51 years.
In memory of my true love, who firmly believed everyone should give a hand up to those less fortunate.
To honor the marriage of . . .
In honor of the caring staff of . . .
A gift honoring our grandchildren . . .
In honor of Grandpa, who dedicated himself to his country and community, with thanks for your service, your faith and your good works.
This is what Christmas is all about . . .
Since 1999, Margie Movius of Port Angeles has sent a donation to the Peninsula Home Fund, her “charity of choice because it’s all local,” for at least $113, mailing it every year on Dec. 13.
Her donation for 2013 came with these dedications:
■ Margie Movius, Port Angeles — $113. In honor of the Port Angeles Fire Department’s “Medic Crew.” Thank you!
■ Margie Movius, Port Angeles — $113. In memory of my daughter, Beverly J. Rice.
■ Margie Movius, Port Angeles — $113. In memory of my son, Paul J. Raber.
■ Margie Movius, Port Angeles — $113. In memory of my nephew, Patrick W. (Pat) Rose.
A fifth donation, for $61, honored Dr. Phillip Downer of Orthopedic Specialists of Seattle. He did her hip surgery several years back, “doing a fantastic job,” she says.
Her gift this year totaled $513.
And what’s the “13” all about?
“It’s an inside family thing,” she replies, adding only that many things in her life, good and bad, have happened on the 13th of the month.
The list of Home Fund donors in the PDN every Sunday is tangible evidence and a historical record of the thoughtfulness and caring of our North Olympic Peninsula community.
The lists of gracious donors is preserved forever in the PDN — on paper, on microfilm and in the digital universe of the Internet.
The Peninsula Home Fund — a safety net for local residents when there is nowhere else to turn — is seeking contributions for its annual holiday season fundraising campaign that runs from Thanksgiving through Dec. 31.
From Port Townsend to Forks, from Quilcene and Brinnon to Sequim and LaPush, the Home Fund is a “hand up, not a handout” for children, teens, families and the elderly to get through an emergency situation.
Money from the Home Fund goes for hot meals for seniors, meeting rent, energy and transportation needs, warm winter coats for kids, home repairs for the low-income, needed eyeglasses and prescription drugs, dental work, safe and drug-free temporary housing, eyeglasses . . . the list goes on and on.
So far this year, the Home Fund has helped more than 3,1000 individuals and families in Jefferson and Clallam counties.
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 $69.86 per family.
But even though the dollar figures are small, the impact can be big, in huge, life-changing ways.