Coal Township woman with custody of 5 grandchildren getting holiday help from Here. For Good.
By Eric Pehowic
Here. For Good.
COAL TOWNSHIP — No stranger to the Here. For Good. campaign, Brenda Carl found herself needing help again this holiday.
Carl first heard about the holiday help administered by the Salvation Army when her son was younger, and her household had no income because her husband, John, had just been laid off from work.
Today, Carl has custody of five grandchildren, including an 18-year-old granddaughter with a two-month-old baby, a 15-year-old grandson, an 8-year-old granddaughter, a 5-year-old grandson who is autistic and blind, and a granddaughter soon turning 3.
“We haven’t been using (the fund) until recently,” she said. “Now with (the grandkids) here we’ve been coming up (to the Salvation Army) on and off. I don’t like taking advantage of things like this, but we’re living off just my husband’s income — he gets disability.
Here. For Good. “helps us big time,” she said.
The campaign will help put a holiday meal on the table and provide gifts to the children this year, ranging from personal hygiene items, to crafts to sensory-themed items for the grandson with special needs.
Carl said she hasn’t hesitated to let other people know about how the campaign has helped her and encouraged those struggling to seek out the help, too.
“I told a few people I know,” she said. “You call on this day and they’ll tell you what you need and what you don’t need. Very nice people to deal with.”
The 2021 Here. For Good. campaign is a continuation of the Needy Family Fund that has raised more than $3.1 million since 1987 during the holiday season to help the Valley’s less fortunate.
The campaign is administered by Salvation Army citadels in Milton and Sunbury and sponsored by The Daily Item, Sunbury Broadcasting Corp. and Mifflinburg Bank & Trust.
The 1994 Charles B. Degenstein Foundation also will match the first $50,000 in donations.
Today’s total is $96,223.78, including donations from: Edward & Bette Fox, Sunbury, $950; Kenneth & Julie Trometter, Northumberland, $500; S. Luther Savidge Charitable Trust Fund, $345; Pauline Pope, Selinsgrove, $300; Judy A. Flanders, Richfield, $150; Miriam B. Naugle, Lewisburg, $100; Edward & Patricia Bastuscheck, Lewisburg, $100; Cynthia Pfleegor, Watsontown, $50; Patricia Dorman, Northumberland, $25; and $1,200 in anonymous donations.
Donors can make checks payable to Here. For. Good. Campaign and mail or drop them off at any location of program co-sponsor Mifflinburg Bank & Trust. Donors also can mail a check to 250 E. Chestnut St., Mifflinburg, PA 17844 or donate online at www.hereforgoodcampaign.org.
