Fund helps 31,000 of region’s needy

The Christmas Fund has closed for the year with donations totaling $562,804, exceeding the goal by nearly $68,000.

The donations ensure the fund will cover bills for the Christmas Bureau, which provided toys and food vouchers to 9,662 needy families, including 15,601 children. Food vouchers totaled $284,294 this year.

More than 31,000 needy people from 108 ZIP codes across the Inland Northwest had brighter holidays as a result of the generosity of the community.

Among the donations received after Christmas was a $24.50 check from George and Barbara Iwai. Included with the donation was a Christmas Bureau food voucher that had been issued to the Iwais and a note: “Thank you for your thoughtfulness and generosity, we’re in good shape for Christmas this year,” they wrote.

The Christmas Fund missed the record for total donations by $3,539.

Donations received after the fund closed Tuesday will go toward the 2009 Christmas Fund. Those donors and their donations will be reported in late November.

Following are the donors and what they gave:

Ibex Construction Inc., of Spokane, donated $500.

Lynn and Alvin Schmidt, of Spokane, donated $250, as did Barbara Augusta, Ennis Fine Furniture, and an anonymous donor, also all of Spokane.

Kathy, Darcy, Sam and Max, of Spokane, donated $250, “to thank Don and Diane Kelly for teaching the spirit of giving by example.”

Dena Kelly Kaplan, of San Diego, Calif., donated $200 in honor of Don Kelly and his years of hard work, compassion and service to the Christmas Bureau. “He’s my dad and my hero,” she wrote.

Nine-year-old Hailey Poutiatine, of Spokane Valley, sent $116 and a note: “Like I have the past three years, since I was 6, I raised money for the Christmas Fund. With $90 from my ‘concert,’ and $26 from my allowance, a grand total of $116 for one of the best charities I know.”

Cecelia Schucker and Jim Kearney, of Greenacres, each donated $100.

Lloyd Emter, of Veradale, donated $100, as did Diane and Ty Wick, of Mead; Jess and Ann Walter, Roxanne Rafferty, Larry Luton and Susan Hales, Ralph and Catherine Coston, Peter and Beth Weller, and an anonymous donor, all of Spokane.

Janet Grossman, of Spokane, donated $100 in memory of her mother.

Natalie Renae Wood donated $96.80 via PayPal in memory of the grandma she never knew, Mary Therese Wood. William Lockwood also donated $96.80 via PayPal.

The Fiala family, of Spokane, donated $50, as did Vesta Kise, of Spokane Valley, and Mike and Julie Yake, also of Spokane.

Bob and Danelle Blangeres, of Spokane, sent $50 in memory of their friend Nadine Hamilton.

William and Melissa Cormier, of Sammamish, Wash., donated $25, as did an anonymous donor of Spokane, and an anonymous donor, of Deer Park.

Girl Scout Troop 2074, of Spokane Valley, sent $25 and a note: “In appreciation for providing waitressing services for a Christmas luncheon for the Catholic Daughters of the Americas, the troop of 10 girls received a $25 check. The girls voted to donate the check to the Christmas Fund to help others with their Christmas wishes,” wrote troop leader Jill Wakeling.

School Employees Credit Union of Washington donated $20.

Phillip and Shao Wei Nakagawa, of Honolulu, donated $10.