Christmas Fund appeals bring flood of offers
| • | Vacuum sought for home of ailing child |
By Mike Gordon
Advertiser Staff Writer
People are giving and giving and giving.
Money. Dining room tables. Beds. They're even giving up company Christmas parties so they can donate.
The Advertiser Christmas Fund, now in its third week, is prompting Hawai'i residents to ignore tough times and do what they can to help their needy neighbors. Each day's story brings a wave of calls.
"I'm beseiged," said Clara Olds, special events manager for Helping Hands Hawai'i, which administers the annual fund.
Advertiser readers are responding to the daily stories of those in need. The first day, when someone needed a bed, the first call to Olds' office brought a $1,500 check. The next day, when a family wanted a headstone for their baby, the first call took care of it.
Last year Advertiser readers donated more than $105,000 to the fund and responded generously to individual requests. This year, in addition to fulfilling the needs of each family profiled, more than $25,000 has come in since the fund-raising campaign began Nov. 25.
Donated money goes to Helping Hands Hawai'i, which handles requests throughout the year from 171 agencies including Catholic Charities, United Cerebral Palsy, Healthy Start Wai'anae, Child and Family Services, Palama Settlement, Waimanalo Health Center, Queen Lili'uokalani Children's Center, St. Patrick Church's Outreach program and O'ahu Head Start.
Helping Hands also operates a 10,000-square-foot clearinghouse at 2100 N. Nimitz Highway near Pu'uhale School that provides donated items to 18 families a day.
Each of the families featured in Advertiser stories has received what it needed, and each has generated three or four offers of help. So many people are calling that families are getting what they need, Olds said.
When more than one donor responds, the offer of help is directed to other needy families. Olds is happy to spread the giving around.
Extra donations also are put into an emergency fund that is used throughout the year, she said.
Olds has been amazed at the generosity she's seen. Readers have been moved.
Dr. Torrey Goodman, a physician in the emergency room at Kaiser's Moanalua Medical Center, decided this year to make helping others a priority.
The Kailua woman adopted a family that needed a bed and asked other workers in the emergency room to contribute. If they don't, Goodman said she will buy the bed herself.
"It struck a chord with me that some of the things people were wanting were so basic, and I have so much, and so much of us have so much," Goodman said.
She had often done medical missions overseas, but decided to focus her efforts at home. It's a philosophy, she said, that outlasts the holidays.
"Charity and generosity isn't about writing a check once a year at Christmas," she said. "It is being generous to people every day. It is giving without any thought of getting anything back."
Hawai'i Kai resident Dorothy Garliepp decided to give more this year in memory of her son and husband. She's donating $25 every day. Perhaps other people will be inspired to donate on behalf of lost loved ones, she said.
"It's just really to help," she said. "I thought maybe other people would like the idea. It also feels good."
Ross and Sharon Roliard feel the same way. The owners of three Curve for Women fitness centers said they will match whatever their members contribute, up to $500 per center. The jars and signs went up last week.
"I am hoping we can parlay this into something good," said Ross Roliard. "It's just something. We do see all the needs out there. We thought, here is a way where we can make a difference."
Some of the most cherished gifts are simple ones.
Carole Rasco donated two new bicycles. The Makakilo woman read a story about a recovering drug addict and thought of her son's struggle to kick drugs.
Giving felt good, she said. "It was fun. I tell you, I wish I had a million dollars to answer all those stories."
Reach Mike Gordon at mgordon@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8012.
