Finish year with a gift for your neighbors

Today is the last chance to finish the year with a flourish.

All contributions to the Peninsula Home Fund are fully IRS tax-deductible for 2019 through today, when this year’s campaign — the 31st annual — ends. Donations given in 2019 will be tallied next month and the total announced.

Those who want to donate later can do so. The campaign may be coming to a close but the fund itself never closes and can accept donations anytime.

Each donation is one more strand in a safety net for North Olympic Peninsula people when they are in crisis. The Home Fund offers an essential bridge when things just don’t match up and there is nowhere else to turn.

Each donation, no matter how large or small, is priceless for a person in need.

A little can mean a lot. The average amount given per person this year has been $143. The annual cap for an individual to receive is $350.

The fund is distributed in grants from Olympic Community Action Programs (OlyCAP).

The goal is “a hand up, not a handout.”

How to apply

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 mailbox at any of the three numbers, and a Home Fund caseworker will phone you back.

OlyCAP’s website: www.olycap.org; email: action@olycap.org.

How to donate

To donate, write a check to “Peninsula Home Fund” and attach it to the coupon that appears in today’s Peninsula Daily News.

Mail both items to Peninsula Home Fund, Peninsula Daily News, P.O. Box 1330, Port Angeles, WA 98362.

You also can contribute online using a credit card. Just go to www.olycap.org/peninsula-home-fund.

All contributions are IRS tax-deductible to the fullest extent of the law for the year in which the check is written.

Your personal information is kept confidential. PDN does not rent, sell, give or otherwise share your address or other information with anyone or make any other use of it.

No money is deducted by the Peninsula Daily News for administration fees or any other overhead.

Every penny goes to OlyCAP, which uses it to help the most vulnerable members of our community, from infants to families to seniors, taking up to 10 percent to help pay for the vital programs and services for Home Fund clients.

If you have any questions about the fund, call Publisher Terry R. Ward at 360-417-3500.