EDITOR’s NOTE: This is another in a series of articles on the Peninsula Home Fund. Click on the Home Fund button at left and print out a donation coupon. Thank you very much!
FORKS — During a routine breast self-examination, Tracy Kelley felt a lump.
In January, Kelley was diagnosed with breast cancer.
Soon, with medical bills, daily expenses and a mortgage payment, Kelly’s illness began to take more than just a physical toll.
“I couldn’t work, and I was really behind on bills,” said Kelley, 40, a lifelong resident of Forks.
“I needed a little help.”
Kelley turned to OlyCAP — Olympic Community Action Programs — for help and received $100 from the Peninsula Daily News’ Peninsula Home Fund to assist with her mortgage payment.
“The Home Fund was a godsend,” she said.
“I am very thankful it is there for someone that really needs it.
“I needed it — I couldn’t work for four and a half months.”
Kelley said she has worked her entire life and would never have asked for the money if she didn’t need it.
“It was very reassuring to have the money there and knowing that they (the OlyCAP staff) would help if they could,” she said.
So far, Kelley has undergone seven surgeries, including some re-constructive surgery.
“I urge women to get checked early — even before the doctors suggest it, and even if no one in your family has had breast cancer,” she said.
“This can happen to any woman.”
She added:
“To those who donate to the fund — thank you — you help a lot of people.”
A safety net
Peninsula Home Fund is a safety net for residents in Jefferson and Clallam counties when they face emergency situations — and can’t find help elsewhere.
From Port Townsend to Forks, from Quilcene and Brinnon to LaPush, it’s a helping hand for children, teens, families and the elderly.
Every dollar goes — without any deductions for costs — for 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, eyeglasses — the list goes on and on.
The nonprofit program’s emphasis is on making sure no one falls through the cracks during the most demanding time of the year — winter.
No deductions
Peninsula Home Fund is seeking contributions for its annual holiday-season fund-raising campaign.
Now in its 14th year, the fund is managed for the Peninsula Daily News by OlyCAP, No. 1 emergency care agency on the North Olympic Peninsula.
* No money is diverted for administration or other overhead. All costs are absorbed by the Peninsula Daily News and OlyCAP.
* All contributions are fully IRS tax-deductible.
* Your personal information is kept confidential. The 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.
* Money is commonly distributed from the Peninsula Home Fund in small amounts, usually up to $100.
* Assistance is limited to one time in a 12-month period.
Individuals, couples, businesses and school groups set a new record for contributions in 2001 — $63,777.
More than 650 people had been helped as of mid-November.
All of the money collected last year is expected to be spent by Dec. 31.
Peninsula Home Fund contributions are often used in conjunction with money from churches, service clubs and other donors, enabling OlyCAP to stretch the value of the contributions.
To apply for a grant from the fund, phone OlyCAP at 360-452-4726 (Clallam County) or 360-385-2571 (Jefferson County). There are offices in Port Townsend, Port Angeles and Forks.
If you have any questions about the fund, contact John Brewer, Peninsula Daily News editor and publisher, at 360-417-3500, or e-mail john.brewer@peninsuladailynews.com.
How to donate
A gift of any size is welcome.
Peninsula Home Fund has never been a campaign of heavy hitters.
Every gift makes a difference.
The holiday fund-raising period ends Dec. 31.
Please use the coupon generated by clicking on the Peninsula Home Fund button at the upper left.
Again, all contributions are fully IRS tax-deductible.
You will receive a written thank you and acknowledgment of your contribution; your address and all personal information are kept private.
The Peninsula Daily News publishes news stories every Wednesday and Sunday during this year’s campaign listing contributors and reporting on how the fund works.
New contributions
So far this holiday season, $23,778 has been contributed to the Peninsula Home Fund.
That’s about $10,000 behind the pace of last year’s giving.
The following are contributions received between Dec. 10 and Dec. 13 — thank you very much for making a difference in the lives — and futures — of your neighbors:
* William Sallee family, Port Angeles, $25, in memory of Matt Edwards.
* Olympic Peninsula Doll Club, Port Angeles, $100.
* Margie A. Movius, Port Angeles, $113, “in memory of that good lookin’ Lincoln Street Safeway grocery checker, Beverly J. Rice. Keep smilin’.”
* Margie A. Movius, Port Angeles, $113, “in memory of that All-American guy — red, white and blue, ‘I want to join the service!’ son of mine, Sgt. Paul J. Raber, USAF, May 13, 1975. Thailand.”
* Mountain View Rebeka Lodge 34, Port Angeles, $25.
Donors who requested anonymity:
* Port Hadlock, $50, in honor of Wendy Campbell.
* Sequim, $35.
* Port Angeles, $25.
* Sequim, $100.
* Port Angeles, $25, in memory of John R. Phillips.
* Port Angeles, $25.
* Port Angeles, $200, in memory of Jack McNitt.
* Clallam Bay, $20, in memory of Edna Lovano.
* Sequim, $100.
* Port Angeles, $25.
* Port Angeles, $50, in memory of Wally Davis.
* Forks, $50, in loving memory of David Bonnell.
* Port Angeles, $25.
* Sequim, $200, in honor of Joan and Terry Reichardt.
* Port Angeles, $50.
* Port Angeles, $30.
* Port Angeles, $25.
* Sequim, $5.
* Sequim, $25.
* Sequim, $50.
* *Jean Stolley, Port Angeles, in memory of husband Marvyn Stolley.
* *Bob’s Electric, Port Angeles.
* *Susan Feiro, Port Angeles.
* *Nancy and Ed Grier, Port Angeles, in memory of Vic Bryant.
* *Gary and Ann Colley, Port Angeles.
* *Rosemary Russell and Bryan Shrader, Port Townsend, in honor of Brenda McMillan “for her boundless generosity to people in need and for her efforts in behalf of world peace.”
* *Bill and Jean Folden, Port Angeles.
* *Ann Chang, Port Angeles, in memory of Andy Gallo.
* *Nicolas and Lyone Trivich, Port Angeles.
* *Leighton and Sharon Clark, Port Angeles, in memory of Bud Swenson.
* *Greg Money, Port Angeles.
* *Jay and Alicia Crawford, Sequim.
* *Anne H. Olson, Sequim, in memory of Robert M. Olson.
* *Fran and Keith Wollen, Port Angeles.
* *The Tudor Inn, Port Angeles.
* *Richard and Kand Lohneis, Beaver, “in memory of our fathers, John Lohneis and Charles Fox.”
* *Arthur J. and Berniece Judd, Port Angeles
* *Jim and Laurine Drennan, Port Angeles. (A private request they included with their gift has been passed along to OlyCAP — and all attempts will be made to meet it.)
* *Dan and Esther Darrow, Port Ludlow.
* *Charles and Eycke Strickland, Port Angeles. (Information they requested will be mailed Monday.)
* *Mark K. Baumann, Port Angeles.
* *Kenneth A. Monds, Port Angeles.
* *Geneva Borho, Langdon, N.D.
* *Mr. and Mrs. Lloyd Allen, Port Angeles
*=Denotes amount of donation is private.