First steps taken to goal of $500,000
The annual Spokesman-Review Christmas Fund began Friday, with an aim of raising a half-million dollars. The Lydig Construction Charitable Fund started the fund toward its finish with a $2,500 donation, making the kickoff total $8,647.56.
The goal is simple: to provide a new toy for every needy child and a food voucher for Christmas dinner for every poor family that comes to the Christmas Bureau. In addition, each child will receive a new book and families will leave the bureau with a bag of Christmas candy.
The Spokesman-Review partners with Catholic Charities, the Salvation Army and Volunteers of America to run the bureau.
“The thing that is important to me is that no one agency could help this many people,” says Marilee Roloff, executive director of Volunteers of America. “That’s what’s special about the Christmas Bureau. It is a community effort.”
The fund raising will continue through Dec. 30, but the need seems more urgent than that. By the time the bureau closes Dec. 17, organizers expect to have distributed toys to about 16,000 children and given out close to $300,000 in food vouchers. Agencies involved have to trust that the donations will cover those expenses.
Money is donated by generous readers of The Spokesman-Review and area businesses, and the newspaper records each donation in daily articles between now and Christmas Day.
The money buys the toys and food vouchers distributed at the Christmas Bureau. The bureau opens Dec. 6 – little more than a week away – at the Spokane Fair and Expo Center. The bureau will be open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m from Dec. 6 to Dec. 10 and from Dec. 13 to Dec. 17. On both Wednesdays, the doors will stay open until 6:30 p.m. for people who can’t get away from work during the day.
Donations can be made in a number of ways. They can be dropped off at The Spokesman- Review offices in Spokane, 999 W. Riverside Ave., and in Coeur d’Alene, 608 Northwest Blvd. People also can mail their donations to The Spokesman- Review, P.O. Box 2160, Spokane WA 99210.
New this year, donors can give online by going to www.spokesmanreview.com/ christmasfund and clicking on PayPal. Donors can give through their PayPal accounts or by credit card. A small fee will be taken from the donation for PayPal costs; about 3 percent for PayPal customers, and an additional 30 cents for people who just use their credit card.
The Christmas Fund had already received donations when the effort began Friday. Some contributions arrived too late to be applied to last year’s fund; others were disbursed from trust funds or other giving programs earlier this year. That’s why the Christmas Fund total today is $8,647.56.
Beginning today, the donors, the community in which they live and the amount donated will be listed in The Spokesman-Review. Those donors who do not want their names listed should request anonymity. Following are the donations and donors received before Thanksgiving:
The Lydig Construction Charitable Fund sent $2,500.
The Clarence Colby Memorial Fund, of Spokane, sent $1,264.31.
Michael and Pamela Dixson, of Spokane, sent $600.
A $500 donation by Eymann Allison Fennessy Hunter Jones, P.S. Attorneys at Law, of Spokane, was received too late for last year’s Christmas Fund and will go toward this year’s total.
The Freeman Education Association, of Rockford, Wash., donated $358.
The Sons of Norway Tordenskjold Lodge, of Spokane, donated $250, as did an anonymous donor
A donation of $200 from the Olsufka siblings – John, Paul and Michelle Olsufka and Christine Lear – was received too late for last year’s fund. John Olsufka included a note: “Mom’s recent passing made this Christmas very different for all of us and we felt it would be fitting to donate to the Christmas Fund on behalf of our loving mother.”
Allene Womble, of Spokane, also sent $200.
An anonymous donor gave $104.
Douglas Mahugh and Gail Papke, of Cheney, sent $100, as did Steve Socha, a participant in The Chubb Corp. Matching Gifts Program.
Phyllis and Chuck Schaffer, of Nine Mile Falls, sent $50 and a note: “My mother, Ruth Erickson Morrow, passed away Jan. 11, 2004. In going through her papers, I found a note she had written to herself to donate to the fund, so we are doing this in her honor.”
The Inland Empire Paper Co. initiated a program to promote a drug- and alcohol-free work environment. Two employees’ names are randomly drawn each month and each employee selected for drug and alcohol screening can earmark a $50 company contribution to a charity of his or her choice. Tom Clift designated his $50 to the Christmas Fund.
An anonymous donor sent $50 in honor of Grace Mashita.
Joan Guerin at South Hill Jewelers, of Spokane, sent $30, the proceeds of last December’s sale of pocket tokens. Proceeds from the Spokesman-Review Features Department Freebie Sale were $30.
Karol Kaye, of Spokane, donated $25.
The Krafty Grannies, of Spokane, donated $20.
Bonnie Nelson, of Spokane, sent $10 in memory of Alta Yates. An anonymous donor also gave $10.