By Tim Hockett For Peninsula Daily News
EDITOR’S NOTE — For 20 years, Peninsula Daily News readers in Jefferson and Clallam counties have supported the Peninsula Home Fund.
Today we feature the last in a series of articles on how the fund operates and who benefits from our readers’ generosity.
In Sunday’s PDN we will write about this year’s campaign, how much was raised, as of Thursday, and we’ll publish a semi-final list of 2009 contributors.
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Beginning in 1989, readers of the Peninsula Daily News have strengthened our North Olympic Peninsula community through generous donations to the “hand up, not a handout” Peninsula Home Fund.
It’s not too late to make a BIG difference this year.
This Thursday — tomorrow, Dec. 31 — is the last day of the 2009 fundraising drive (and the 2009 tax year).
Credit card donations that are processed before 5 p.m. Thursday — and last-minute checks dated on or before Thursday — will be applied to this year’s campaign.
All Peninsula Home Fund contributions are fully IRS tax-deductible for the year in which the donation is made.
We’ll have a wrapup story in this Sunday’s PDN on how much, as of Thursday, has been collected in this year’s campaign, which began on Thanksgiving.
(Assuming some checks dated Dec. 31 won’t reach us until Monday, Jan. 4, we’ll no doubt have a followup story, list of donors and a final total in the Sunday, Jan. 10, PDN. We want to recognize and thank all our 2009 donors.)
But fund never closes
While the books on the 2009 campaign are to about to close, the Peninsula Home Fund itself never closes.
New contributions (checks dated Jan. 1 or thereafter, or donations by credit card received after Thursday) will go — with much thanks — toward the 2010 campaign.
With no deductions for administration or other overhead, the PDN’s Peninsula Home Fund is a safety net for people in Jefferson and Clallam counties when they suddenly face an emergency situation and can’t find help elsewhere.
From Port Townsend to Forks, from Quilcene and Brinnon to LaPush, it’s a “hand up, not a handout” — 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 . . .
The list goes on and on — from Jan. 1 through Dec. 18, the Peninsula Home Fund has served 1,921 families, comprising about 3,643 individuals.
The Peninsula Home Fund is a unique, nonprofit collaboration between the Peninsula Daily News readership and Olympic Community Action Programs (OlyCAP), the No. 1 emergency services agency for Jefferson and Clallam counties.
In addition to its many community services, OlyCAP screens applicants for the Peninsula Home Fund and disburses the funds.
On top of the generous checks you have written to the Home Fund, residents throughout our area have taken to heart the call to compassion and kindness.
When the community works together, the community works . . .
Here are just a few examples of neighbors helping neighbors — folks carrying forward the spirit of the Peninsula Home Fund:
— In the west ends of both Clallam and Jefferson counties, folks clearing land have donated to families in need of firewood.
OlyCAP has facilitated the delivery of several hundred cords of wood to needy families through its Heart to Hearth program.
— A waste disposal company (DM Disposal, with offices in Port Angeles and Port Townsend) has helped struggling households (usually low-income, disabled folks) each year clean up their property and carry away the accumulated debris to the land fill.
— A dedicated group of Boeing Bluebills (Boeing’s retired volunteer program) donated thousands of hours of manual labor to complete a total renovation of the Quilcene Community Center.
They have also taken on dozens of other projects each year, from wheelchair ramps to the distribution of World Vision donations.
— A generous individual donated a car to a Head Start mom in Jefferson County (also a Home Fund recipient) so that she could reliably take her son to school and get to work every day.
— Several community gardens have popped up in both counties, with nearly all of them setting aside plots for either local food banks or the senior meal program.
— Dozens of volunteers at locations across the Peninsula gather on both Thanksgiving and Christmas to provide meals to folks who would otherwise just do without a holiday meal.
— Arrow Lumber & Hardware, based in Buckley with a branch office in Port Townsend, purchased hundreds of turkeys to be distributed through food banks in Jefferson County.
— A consortium of churches in Port Townsend is providing meals to people in the winter shelter overseen by OlyCAP.
— The Salvation Army provides meals almost continuously in Port Angeles and the Nazarene Church in Forks provides community meals every Tuesday at the community center.
— Dozens of families have donated blankets to various blanket drives just so low-income families don’t have to be cold during the winter.
— Several agencies and volunteers pooled resources to provide services to veterans at “stand downs” in both Clallam and Jefferson counties.
In this year of economic uncertainty, of double-digit joblessness, of a swelling increase of need — the fundamental goodness of our community has been tested.
Overcoming the selfish impulse to protect your own resources, you have instead decided to give and give.
It has been mentioned before in these pages, but it needs to be said again:
What makes the North Olympic Peninsula such a wonderful place is the generosity and kindness of its people.
As the Peninsula Home Fund comes to a close this week, please accept the thanks of a grateful community, of households about which you know little or nothing, who are sheltered, fed, provided heat, medical attention, transportation and sometimes even a hug . . . from you.
No deductions — a ‘hand-up’
Here’s a recap of how the Peninsula Home Fund works:
— No money, not one penny, is used for administration or other overhead.
All costs are absorbed by the PDN and OlyCAP.
Your entire donation goes — without any deductions — to help those who are facing times of crisis.
— Your personal information is kept confidential.
Peninsula Daily News does not rent, sell, give or otherwise share your address or other information with anyone or make any other use of it.
— Instances of help are designed to get an individual or family through the crisis — and back on the path to self-sufficiency.
That’s the “hand up, not a handout” focus of the fund.
Peninsula Home Fund case managers work with individuals or families as needed 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
— Begun in 1989, the fund is supported entirely by Jefferson and Clallam residents.
Individuals, couples, businesses, churches, service organizations and school groups set a new record for contributions in 2008 — $198,015.03.
All the money collected in 2008 has been carefully rationed and is expected to be spent before Thursday.
— Peninsula Home Fund contributions are often used in conjunction with money from other agencies, enabling OlyCAP to stretch the value of the contribution.
–Money is usually distributed in small amounts, usually up to $150.
— Assistance is limited to one time in a 12-month period.
Applying for a grant
To apply for a grant from the fund, phone 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.
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Tim Hockett, the author of this article, is the executive director of OlyCAP. He can be reached at 360-452-4726, Ext. 6218.
