By Justin Strawser
MILTON — Mackenzie Taylor has not been able to work during the COVID-19 pandemic because she can’t find a daycare for her six-month-old son.
The 30-year-old woman from Milton was injured last year after basic training in the Pennsylvania National Guard, having fractured her hip in August 2019. She also found herself pregnant when she took time off to heal. Now, she must take time off at the State Correctional Institute in Camp Hill because she can’t find a daycare with space for her infant son.
“I just need some help,” Taylor said about why she turned to the Salvation Army this year. “Financially, it’s just hard.”
It’s her son’s first Christmas, she said.
“I want something to put under the tree,” she said. “Not that he’s going to care, but I want something for him for Christmas.”
The “2020 Here. For Good.” campaign is a continuation of the Needy Family Fund that has raised more than $3.06 million since 1987 during the holidays to assist 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 will also match the first $50,000 in donations.
This year’s goal is $115,000. Today’s total is $10,356, thanks to $125 from Terry and Kathryn Bowers, of Selinsgrove; and $100 from James and Jeanne Zimmerman, of Mifflinburg. There were also $200 in anonymous donations.
Donors can make checks payable to Here. For Good Campaign and mail or drop them off to any location of program co-sponsor Mifflinburg Bank & Trust. Donors can also make any deposited donation or mail a check to 250 E. Chestnut St., Mifflinburg, PA, 17844, or donate online at www.hereforgoodcampaign.org.
