You’ve outdone yourselves.
You donated a total of $230,673.15 with hundreds of large and small gifts to the Peninsula Home Fund during the 2019 campaign from Thanksgiving through Dec. 31.
That’s $32,344 more than you contributed the prior year for the “hand up, not a handout” fund that provides a safety net for our neighbors on the North Olympic Peninsula.
Thank you.
It will be well appreciated.
The 31-year-old Home Fund fuels small grants to Peninsula residents who need a hand up as they regain their footing. Administered by the staff at Olympic Community Action Programs (OlyCAP), the fund is created entirely by donations from the people of Clallam and Jefferson counties.
In 2019, individual grants that averaged $129 per person helped 1,061 people.
You generous donors contributed to honor loved ones and to remember civic leaders who had died. You contributed as groups, couples or individuals. Some of you contributed anonymously.
And many have continued to donate in the new year to the fund that never closes.
Your charitableness has created a critical resource for our neighbors in 2020.
In 2019, the Peninsula Home Fund provided money to fix a van so that an ailing Port Townsend child could get the care she needed.
It paid for brakes for Sequim seniors who couldn’t afford the extra expense.
It kept a Port Angeles woman in her home and saved a Port Townsend single father from living in a tent.
It returned peace of mind to a Coyle man as he drove to buy groceries and visit doctors and assured a Port Angeles woman of continued heat and lights.
The hardworking fund has made miracles possible for thousands of Peninsula residents over more than three decades.
Since 1989, the fund has raised more than $3.92 million — all used to give a little support that can mean a lot.
“The generosity of our readers and residents on the North Olympic Peninsula is heartwarming,” said Terry R. Ward, publisher of the Peninsula Daily News. “The fact that every year, they continue to donate their hard-earned money to give others a hand up says a lot about the character of our neighbors.”
Fund never closes
The books on the 2019 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 will go toward the 2019 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.
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, call Publisher Terry R. Ward at 360-417-3500.
