Thanks to a surge in last-minute gifts, Peninsula Daily News’ Peninsula Home Fund narrowly set a new record for the 14th 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, $268,389 was contributed to the “hand up, not a handout” Home Fund in 2013.
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 this year’s campaign — focused between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Eve — was lifted above the $245,750 recorded on Dec. 29 and reported in last Sunday’s PDN — and $252 over the old record of $268,137 set Dec. 31, 2012.
The total in 2011 was $254,593.
There were 1,224 compassionate donors in this year’s crusade.
They join the PDN in delivering hope to thousands of individuals and families, many with children, who suddenly face an emergency situation in 2014 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.
Eyeglasses to children
Many of the 3,293 community recipients from the fund this year were young students — getting shoes, eyeglasses so they can read and winter coats for the bus stop.
Gifts this year ran the gamut, from kids giving allowance money 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.
In the past 25 years, the Home Fund has distributed $2.4 million to help those in need on our Peninsula.
We have been able to do so only because of you, our caring readers.
Thank you!
Fund never closes
The books on the 2013 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.
To donate online by credit card, click on https://secure.peninsuladailynews.com/homefund.
New contributions will go toward the 2014 campaign.
All Peninsula Home Fund contributions are fully IRS tax-deductible.
We have already received donations dated Jan. 1 and afterward that will go — with much thanks — toward the 2014 campaign.
Contributions totaling more than $18,000 collected last year before Thanksgiving gave us a running start on the 2013 drive.
Bridging the chasm
While there are signs that the economy is starting to turn around, those who have most felt the effects from our sustained economic anxiety still struggle.
Too many are still out of work.
Some are facing foreclosure.
Many more are wondering how they’re going to heat their homes and provide for their families this winter.
The relief provided by the Peninsula Home Fund is real and deeply appreciated
Now down to its last dollars raised in the 2012 campaign, 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 $268,389 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.
Peninsula’s safety net
From Port Townsend to Forks, from Quilcene and Brinnon to Sequim and LaPush, the Home Fund provides hot meals for seniors, meeting rent, energy and transportation needs, warm winter coats for kids, home repairs for the low-income, needed eyeglasses and prescription drugs, dental work, safe and drug-free temporary housing . . . the list goes on and on.
No money is deducted by the Peninsula Daily News for administration fees or any other overhead.
Assistance, which usually averages less than $100, is also limited to one time in a 12-month period.
The average amount of help this year was $74.81 per family.
But even though the dollar figures are small, the impact can be big, in huge, life-changing ways.
And, as needed, Peninsula Home Fund contributions are often used in conjunction with money from churches and other agencies, enabling OlyCAP to stretch the value of the contribution.
Self-sufficiency
Always showing respect and kindness to people who don’t always receive that in their daily lives, the Peninsula Home Fund staff’s most important goal is to get the individual or family through a crisis and back on the path to self-sufficiency.
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.
In addition, the Home Fund keeps your personal information 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 audited by the Washington secretary of state’s charities division in Olympia.
The fund’s IRS number, under the auspices of OlyCAP, is 91-0814319.
You will receive a written thank-you and acknowledgment/receipt of your gift.
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@olycap.org.
If you have any questions about the fund, phone John Brewer, PDN publisher and editor, at 360-417-3500.
Or email Brewer at jbrewer@peninsuladailynews.com.
Final contributions
The following are the 2013 campaign’s final donations by cash, credit cards and checks dated as of Dec. 31.
We already have received gifts that will allow us to jump-start the 2014 drive.
Thank you very much for making a difference in the lives — and futures — of your neighbors:
■ Rick Willis and Liz Harper, Sequim — $1,000.
■ Andy and Jeanne Jubb, Carlsborg — $100. In memory of our dear friend, Marian Platt.
■ Dennis and Diane Isaac, Sequim — $50.
■ William and Nancy Irvine, Sequim and Santa Barbara, Calif. — $200.
■ Smith-O’Hara-Parker family, Port Angeles — $100. In memory of Daniel Holmquist.
■ Pat and Shannon Slattery, Sequim — $50.
■ Richard and Betty Southard, Port Townsend — $100. In memory of Ralph Ellis, Port Townsend.
■ Jay and Paula Richter, Port Angeles — $200.
■ Barry and Dolly Burnett, Port Angeles — $100. In memory of Wayne Burnett.
■ Charles and Corrine Horton, Sequim — $100.
■ Jim and Elaine Cole, Sequim — $50.
■ Thomas Coville, Port Angeles — $25.
■ R.J. Services, Inc., Port Angeles — $500.
■ NO Sangha, a zen meditation group, Port Angeles — $954.
Many thanks also to these donors (who requested that the amount of their donation be kept private):
■ Jim and Marie Moran, Port Angeles. Pay it forward.
■ Steven and Diane Ross, Sequim.
■ Neal and Bobbie Liden, Port Townsend. In honor of Marilyn Bode.
■ Betty Newlon, Sequim. In memory of Dick Newlon.
■ Pat Gilbert, Port Angeles. In memory of my mother, Dorothy Jensen.
■ Carolyn and Ray Braun, Port Angeles.
■ Mark A. Stehly, Sequim.
■ Jon and Lori Jacobs, Port Angeles.
■ Patricia and Michael Danisiewicz, Port Angeles.
■ Nancy McDonald, Port Angeles. In memory of Robert “Mac” McDonald.
■ Dennis and Eileen Franson, Sequim. In memory of Dorothy Rasmussen.
■ Ed Chadd, Port Angeles.
■ Levetta Frymire, Port Angeles. In memory of Harry Frymire.
■ Jim and Sally Halvorsen, Port Angeles.
■ Patricia Bartlett, Sequim.
■ Victor Heiskala, Port Angeles.
■ Chris Walvatne, Port Townsend. In memory of our parents, Anna and Casper Walvatne and Clarence and Betty Brown.
■ Hansi Hals and Tom Butler, Port Angeles.
■ Eric and Christine Brown, Port Angeles.
■ Lee and Irene Wyman, Port Angeles. In memory of Sister Sue Lidster.
■ Phyllis Bentley, Sequim. In honor of Richard Adams.
■ Pat Johnson, Sequim.
■ Ted and Beverly Sullivan, Port Angeles. In memory of Dan Sullivan and Ken and Marge.
■ Rita and Tom Thatcher, Sequim. In honor and memory of our son, Tim; our brother, Jim, and our sister, Nina. And in honor of our son, Todd.
■ Kenneth A. Monds, Port Angeles. In memory of Jim and Mabel.
■ Destiny Drafting, Port Angeles.
■ Kathryn M. Monds, Port Angeles.
■ Joanne L. Morrison, Carlsborg. In memory of my loving husband, Don G. Morrison, who was known as “Don the Bike Guy” for many years.
■ Betty Manning, Port Angeles.
■ Steven and Rhonda Scharf, Port Townsend.
■ Susan and Stan Kriegel, Port Ludlow.
■ Chuck and Shirley Lehman, Sequim. In loving memory of our son, Randy — your smile will light our way.
■ Beth and Jim Garifalos, Sequim.
■ Bob and Shirley Widdicombe, Sequim.
■ Bill and Beth VerSteeg, Sequim. In memory of Nick and Eva VerSteeg; Bob and Virginia VerSteeg; Walt and Oliva Fisher; and Dick Shelton.
■ Don and Betty Lue Skidmore, Sequim.
■ William and Margaret Klover, Port Angeles.
■ Peggy M. Anderson, Sequim.
■ Marvel Blevins, Forks. In memory of my daughter, Barbara McCallister.
■ Bob and Lucille Schmitt, Port Angeles.
■ Vicky Murphy, Port Angeles.
■ Jeanne and David Oldenkamp, Port Angeles.
■ Mary and Gene Lauderback, Port Angeles.
■ Cynthia McNulty, Sequim. In memory of Lois Ruth McNulty.
■ J and J Construction of Port Angeles, Inc. In honor of the employees of J and J Construction.
■ Jerry and Jackie Schwagler, Port Angeles.
■ Dottie Hopkins, Port Angeles. In memory of Cindy.
■ First United Methodist Choir, Port Angeles. In honor of, and with many thanks to Ann Todnem, organist, and Dennis Crabb, choir director, for making our choir so songful.
■ Steve Moore and Gigi Callaizakis, Port Townsend. In honor of Elaine Moore and Jane Stearns.
■ Ethel Butler, Port Angeles. In memory of Harold Butler.
■ Carol and Doug Holst, Port Angeles.
■ Anna Manildi and Jack Galloway, Port Angeles.
■ Port Townsend Friends Meeting, Port Townsend.
■ Les and Georgia Mitchell, Port Angeles.
■ Julie and Jim Haguewood, Port Angeles.
■ Al and Muriel Main, Port Angeles.
■ Margaret R. Jamison, Sequim. In honor of Judith Jones and Jack Lyon.
■ Philip and Kathleen Giuntoli, Port Angeles. In memory of the Page family: Kenny, Mildred, Larry and Keith.
■ David and Diane Horton, Port Angeles. In memory of Diane’s “Auntie Lila.”
■ Bruce McCoppen, Port Angeles. In memory of Natalie McCoppen.
■ James Sanderson, Carlsborg. In memory of Prosper Ostrowski.
■ Karen L. and Steve Anderson, Port Angeles.
■ Schermerhorn and Jennens, Sequim.
■ Elsbeth Switzer, Sequim.
■ Violet Grall, Port Angeles. In memory of my sister-in-law for 72 years, Fadelma Winters. — V.G.
■ Carol Anne Modena, Port Townsend. In memory of Dana Roberts of Port Townsend.
■ Donna and Eric Miner, Sequim. In honor of all single parent dads.
■ Richard and Etta MacDonald, Port Ludlow.
■ George and Victoria Esquiro, Port Townsend.
■ John Warrick and Ruth Jenkins, Port Angeles.
■ Estill Cornett, Port Angeles. In honor of parents.
■ Dorothea Morgan, Port Angeles.
■ Olympic Springs Inc., Carlsborg.
■ Gary and Carol Zellmer, Sequim.
■ Carolyn H. Hoover, Tacoma. In honor of my husband, Lon.
■ Howerton’s, Sequim.
■ David and Loretta Bryant, Sequim.
Many thanks also to these donors (who requested anonymity):
■ Port Angeles — $150. To God be the glory.
■ Sequim — $100.
■ Sequim — $300. In memory of James and Sylvia Gilleland.
■ Sequim — $50.
■ Port Angeles — $50.
■ Port Angeles — $100.
■ Port Angeles — $100.
■ Nordland — $50.
■ Port Angeles — $20.
■ Port Angeles — $100.
■ Port Angeles — $100.
■ Port Angeles — $100. Thank you for caring for the needy.
■ Port Angeles — $25. In memory of Ann Brewer.
■ Port Townsend — $500.
■ Port Townsend — $100.
■ Port Ludlow — $150. In honor of the Seals family.
■ Port Angeles — $200. In memory of Augie and Betty Damon.
■ Port Angeles — $100.
■ Port Ludlow — $100.
■ Sequim — $100. In honor of Therese Simons.
■ Port Townsend — $50.
■ Port Angeles — $25.
■ Port Angeles — $100.
■ Port Townsend — $100.
■ Port Angeles — $10.
■ Sequim — $25.
■ Port Angeles — $125. In honor of my parents.
■ Port Angeles — $25.
■ Port Angeles — $200.
■ Sequim — $25.
■ Sequim — $100.
■ Port Angeles — $500.
■ Port Angeles — $100.
■ Port Angeles — $300.
■ Sequim — $50.
■ Port Angeles — $50.
■ Port Angeles — $500.
■ Port Angeles — $100. In memory of Lou Toth.
■ Port Angeles — $200.
■ Sequim — $100.
■ Sequim — $35.
■ Port Angeles — $200. In memory of Mitchel.
■ Sequim — $35. In memory of Mary Jo Daniels.
■ Port Ludlow — $100.
■ Port Angeles — $250.
■ Anonymous donor via Foundation Source in Fairfield, Conn. — $500.
■ Anonymous donor via Grace’s Bounty Fund (Fidelity Charitable grant) — $500.
■ Sequim — $500.
■ Sequim — $25.
■ Sequim — $50.
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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.
