By John Brewer
Publisher and Editor
Peninsula Daily News
TWO WORDS DO not say it all, but thank you!
Thank you!
We did it!
Thanks to a surge in last-minute gifts, Peninsula Daily News’ Peninsula Home Fund set a new record for the 15th straight year.
Thank you, North Olympic Peninsula!
God bless you and thank you, generous PDN readers across Jefferson and Clallam counties.
Because of your gifts, $271,981 was contributed to the “hand up, not a handout” Home Fund in 2014.
After depositing several large gifts, opening a big stack of mail with checks dated on or before Dec. 31 and tallying credit-card contributions, the total for the 2014 campaign — focused between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Eve — was lifted above the preliminary $256,014 reported in last Sunday’s PDN — and $3,592 over the old record of $268,389 set Dec. 31, 2013.
Donations go a long way
There were 1,258 compassionate donors — individuals, couples, businesses and groups — in 2014’s crusade, up from 1,224 in 2013.
They join the PDN in delivering hope to thousands of individuals and families, many with young children, who suddenly face an emergency situation and can’t find help elsewhere.
Everyone who donates — whether it be $1 or $1,000 — is a partner with us in forging a stronger Peninsula community.
In the past 26 years, the Home Fund has distributed $2,755,265 help those in need on our Peninsula.
We have been able to do so only because of you, our caring readers.
Many of the 3,951 community recipients from the fund last year — up from 3,293 in 2013 — were children getting shoes, eyeglasses so they could read and winter coats for the school bus stop.
How you helped
Gifts in 2014 ran the gamut, from kids giving money they got in their Christmas stockings to anonymous donors who contributed through foundations to several generations who joined together to donate.
Donors also included hundreds of individuals, school groups, service clubs, recreation and employee groups and people who have given yearly since the fund began in 1989 — plus a number of past beneficiaries of the fund whose lives have improved.
For many of our readers, the fund is as much a holiday tradition as a Christmas tree or roast turkey.
A gift to the fund embodies the spirit of Christmas.
It is a chance to help neighbors in need, for no personal gain.
Thank you!
Check to OlyCAP
The Home Fund ran out of money for 2014 on Christmas week.
A check will be given as soon as possible to OlyCAP — Olympic Community Action Programs, the No. 1 emergency services agency for Jefferson and Clallam counties — so the $271,981 can begin helping our neighbors immediately.
OlyCAP manages the fund for the PDN, screens the applicants — and provides life-changing services to those who need a “hand up, not a handout.”
Every penny goes to OlyCAP to help the most vulnerable members of our community, from infants to families to seniors.
It has the experts who get these much-needed funds where they need to be.
Fund never closes
The books on the 2014 fund drive are now 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.
Or contribute online by clicking the Home Fund logo on our home page at www.peninsuladailynews.com.
New contributions go toward the 2015 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.
We have already received donations dated Jan. 1 and afterward that will go — with much thanks — toward the 2015 fund drive.
Contributions totaling more than $15,000 collected last year before Thanksgiving gave us a running start on the 2014 drive.
Shoestring philanthropy
The Home Fund is not a welfare program.
The average amount of help is usually below $100 — in 2014 it was $67.93 per person — with a limit of one grant from the fund within 12 months.
But even though the dollar figure is small — some call it “shoestring philanthropy” — the impact can be big, in life-changing ways:
Instances of help are designed to get an individual or family through a crisis — and every effort is also made to put them back on the path to self-sufficiency.
And, as needed, Peninsula Home Fund contributions are often used in conjunction with money from other agencies, enabling OlyCAP to stretch the value of the contribution.
No money is deducted by the Peninsula Daily News for administration, fees or any other overhead.
Every penny contributed goes to OlyCAP to support our neighbors in need in Jefferson and Clallam counties.
Whenever possible, 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.
The fund is not set up to hand out money passively — recipients play active roles in their own success, their own rehabilitation, their own empowerment, their own futures.
That’s the “hand up, not a handout” focus of the Home Fund.
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: www.olycap.org.
Email: action@olycap.org.
Geoff Crump, OlyCAP’s executive director, oversees disbursements from the Peninsula Home Fund. He can be reached at 360-385-2571 or by emailing gcrump@olypen.com.
If you have any questions about the fund, phone John Brewer, PDN editor and publisher, at 360-417-3500.
Or email Brewer at jbrewer@peninsuladailynews.com.
2014 and 2015 donors
The following are the 2014 campaign’s final donations by cash, credit cards and checks dated as of Dec. 31.
Gifts that we’ve received so far in the new year — which will allow us to kick-start the 2015 drive — are listed here, too.
Thank you very much for making a difference in the lives — and futures — of your neighbors:
2014 donors:
■ Phyllis Bentley, Sequim — $1,000.
■ Jim and Connie Beauvais, Joyce — $100.
■ Steve Flatt and Gail Mabbutt, Sequim — $200.
■ Rita M. Leach, Port Angeles — $50. In memory of Carlos R. Alcantar, brother 12/19/49-12/25/2010.
■ Rita M. Leach, Port Angeles — $50. In memory of Diana Alcantar-Redman, sister 12/27/1960-08/21/2010.
■ Thomas E. Coville, Port Angeles — $30.
■ Jerry Spieckerman and Bobbie McMahon, Port Townsend — $100.
■ Richard and Betty Southard, Port Townsend — $100. In honor of Captain Charles N. Flitton, retired Navy.
■ Mick and Allie Quigley, Port Townsend — $100.
■ Una J. Walker, Vancouver, Wash. — $100. In memory of Ed and Bea Black, my parents.
■ Carol and Ivan Hoyt, Sequim — $200.
■ Marilyn J. Warren, Port Angeles — $25.
■ David and Ann Salmon, Sequim — $50.
■ Nadine Fuller, Forks — $100.
■ Deanne Hanson, Sequim — $100.
■ NO Sangha, a zen meditation group, Port Angeles — $872.
2015 donors:
■ Ann R. Kennedy, Port Angeles — $50.
■ Peggy Dire Olesen, Sequim — $200. In memory of Budman Dire and Michael Brown — two very awesome guys.
■ M.P. Minor, Sequim — $100.
■ Mary E. Sperling, Port Angeles — $50. In memory of Michael E. Fish.
Many thanks also to these donors (who requested that the amount of their donation be kept private):
2014 donors:
■ Carol Anne Modena, Port Townsend. In memory of Dana Roberts of Port Townsend. He believed in, and lived, a life of public service.
■ RJ Services, Inc., Port Angeles.
■ Robert and Ora Hickman, Chimacum.
■ Nippon Paper Industries of Port Angeles and the employees of JH Kelly, LLC, of Longview. We hope this contribution will create smiles for the families you serve this holiday season.
■ Randall S. Johnson, Port Angeles. — $300. In honor of G.W. “Pat” and Lorraine Johnson.
■ Richard and Barbara Jepson, Sequim.
■ Bob and Barbara Bullinger, Sequim.
■ Carolyn Muir, Sequim. In honor of Chris Muir.
■ Gordon and Betty Zander, Sequim.
■ Carmelinda Wiley, Port Angeles. In honor of Sue Petrie.
■ Chris Walvatne, Port Townsend. To our parents: Anna and Casper Walvatne and Betty and Clarence Brown, from Warren and Chris. In memory of Janice Case Wasmann, from Chris.
■ Dick and Vicki Van Calcar, Port Angeles.
■ Mara and Paul Mowery, Port Angeles.
■ George and Diane Allen, Port Angeles.
■ Dave and Barbara Allen, Forks. In memory of Barney and Sylvia Murphy.
■ Wes and Puri Heacock, Port Angeles.
■ Colleen Morse, Bellingham. In memory of Gaile Knutzen.
■ Cherie Kidd, Port Angeles. In memory of Margaret Kidd.
■ David A. Storm, Seattle.
■ Stan and Sharon Smith, Sequim.
■ Maria E. Mendes, Port Townsend.
■ Tom, Joyce and Lane, Sequim.
■ Sandra Larson, Port Townsend.
■ Juanita Bellew Jones, Sequim. In memory of Rolland Todd.
■ Bill and Joyce Brown, Port Townsend.
■ Lora L. Eccles, Port Townsend.
■ Al and Muriel Main, Port Angeles.
■ Randel Washburne and Gunvor Hildal, Port Angeles.
■ Sheila Winstead, Sequim. In memory of my Mother. Still miss her after all these years.
■ Wyatt, Sara, Mike Miller, Port Townsend.
■ Eleanor Watson-Gove, Port Townsend.
■ Don and Betty Lue Skidmore, Sequim.
■ Jim and Marie Moran, Port Angeles.
■ Gary and Carol Zellmer, Sequim.
■ Leonard Messal, Sequim. In memory of my beloved nephew, Tim DeMoss. The devil took his life with drugs and despair. GOD gave it back for eternity with LOVE and GRACE.
■ Pat and Patti Fogard, Sequim.
■ Myrtle and John Gossett Charitable Foundation, Port Angeles.
■ Mary Ellen and Cullen P. Hart, Port Ludlow.
■ Betty J. Nicholson, Port Angeles.
■ Peggy M. Anderson, Sequim.
■ Carolyn A. Baker, Port Townsend.
■ Christine Brown, Port Angeles.
■ John Farnsworth, Sequim.
■ Eugene Haugen, Sequim. In honor of June Haugen; Evelyn and Tom Campbell.
2015 donors:
■ Brad Anderson, Port Angeles.
■ Mr. and Mrs. Hoffmann, Sequim.
■ James R. Martin, Sequim.
■ Carla Michaels, Sequim.
■ Jake and Louise Marley, Port Townsend
■ Janiell McLaughlin, Port Angeles.
■ Hazel, Judy, Lorraine and Marian, Port Angeles — In memory of Violet M. Johnson.
■ Colleen Lamb-Gunnerson and Byron Gunnerson, Port Angeles — In memory of Violet M. Johnson.
■ Robert Sheridan, Sequim
■ Olympic Springs, Inc., Carlsborg.
Many thanks also to these donors (who requested anonymity):
2014 donors:
■ Port Angeles — $100.
■ Port Townsend — $50.
■ Port Townsend — $200.
■ Sequim — $200.
■ Port Angeles — $500.
■ Ridgefield, Wash. — $300.
■ Port Townsend — $25.
■ Sequim — $75.
■ Port Angeles — $200. We have been so blessed, and it is great to be able to share with our Peninsula neighbors.
■ Sequim — $25.
■ Port Angeles — $100. In memory of Elizabeth.
■ Port Angeles — $500.
■ Sequim — $100.
■ Port Angeles — $100.
■ Sequim — $500.
■ Sequim — $200.
■ Port Angeles — $250.
■ Chimacum — $30.
■ Sequim — $100.
■ Port Townsend — $100.
■ Port Angeles — $100. In memory of Bob Dalton.
■ Sequim — $500.
■ Port Angeles — $10.
■ Port Angeles — $146. In honor of Benjamin.
■ Sequim — $100.
■ Sequim — $200.
■ Port Angeles — $100.
■ Sequim — $50.
■ Sequim — $50.
■ Sequim — $200.
■ Sequim — $30.
■ Port Townsend — $100.
■ Sequim — $100.
■ Port Angeles — $100.
■ Port Angeles — $150.
■ Sequim — $200.
■ Sequim — $25.
■ Anonymous — $20.
■ Port Angeles — $83.
■ Port Angeles — $100.
■ Sequim — $100. In honor of my hero, John.
■ Sequim — $500. In honor of our Dads, Robert and Edward. Both loved flying and their children
■ Port Angeles — $1,000.
■ Sequim — $43. In memory of Carl Estep.
■ Port Angeles — $200.
■ Sequim — $250.
■ Port Townsend — $100.
■ Anonymous — $500.
■ Sequim — $50. In memory of Dora.
■ Port Angeles — $25.
■ Sequim — $50.
■ Sequim — $100.
■ Port Townsend — $100.
■ Sequim — $100. In honor of my family and friends.
■ Port Townsend — $100.
2015 donors:
■ Port Angeles — $100.
■ Port Angeles — $400.
■ Port Townsend — $100. In memory of Gerald Thorsen
■ Port Angeles — $25. In honor of Anna Barrigan.
■ Port Townsend — $100.
_______
EVEN THE BEST handwriting can be hard to decipher at times.
Please report any errors in this list to John Brewer, 360-417-3500 (there’s voice mail if he’s away), or email him at jbrewer@peninsuladailynews.com.
We’ll rerun the listing correctly.
Our sincerest appreciation again to our donors.