This holiday season, the people of Burlington County are giving plenty of Christmases to their fellow residents.
More than 100 residents, businesses and organizations have made donations to the 2020 Give A Christmas program. They have given over $12,000 combined, or enough for 200 plus $50 Walmart gift cards for families in need.
Families can receive up to four gift cards, one per child and one between the parents. Eligible recipients include, but are not limited to, parents with sick children, single parent households, people who are struggling with addiction and people who are unemployed.
County residents have been fueling the GAC program since its inception in 1968, giving more than $3 million in that time. Several 2020 donors have been writing checks to the initiative for years. One guy even said he has been donating since 1986.
They all pretty much have the same reason for participating each year.
“It’s a good cause,” said George Schumm, a Chesterfield resident who donated in the name of his company, GMS Cleaning Services, a wood flooring business.
Schumm has now given money every year for “probably the last 20 years,” he added.
But even for routine donors like Schumm and others, this year of the coronavirus pandemic, which has thrown thousands of county residents into food and financial insecurity, provided extra motivation to send their money in early.
Several longtime donors mentioned a general sense that other people are “out of work,” “in financial trouble” and “down and out.” So, they gave money in November or early December.
“It’s not fair to these kids to have to suffer,” said Gary Plevyak, an Edgewater Park resident who donated in the name of his business, Mushrooms Ceramic Studio in Riverside. “I just feel it’s important for kids to have a good Christmas.”
Some GAC supporters went a step further. They didn’t just send checks in with time to spare. They actually gave significantly more money than they normally do.
The Springfield Township Fire Company Ladies Auxiliary is a group of women that supports township firefighters during extended jobs, by bringing them water and other necessities.
The group donated $100 in the “few years” preceding this one, according to its president. But in 2020, it increased its donation to $300.
“We’re able to do it,” said the president. “There are so many people out there that need help.”
It is not too late to make a donation to the 2020 Give A Christmas program. Visit this link to give money online: https://foundation.virtua.org/giveachristmas.
You can also send a check by mail. The information for doing so can be found here: http://stories.usatodaynetwork.com/burlingtonchristmas/wp-content/uploads/sites/36/2020/10/Give-a-Christmas-Donation-Form-BCT-2020-1.pdf.
Be sure to print the form, fill it out and send it in with your check. The Burlington County Times likes to give shout-outs to donors in the newspaper, unless they prefer to remain anonymous.
A local news and sports reporter around Pennsylvania and New Jersey since 2015, Jarrad Daniel Saffren joined The Burlington County Times’ award-winning local news team in October 2019, adding business, education and town government features to the coverage. Contact him at jsaffren@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @JarradSaff. Please help support local journalism with a subscription to The Burlington County Times.