2017 Give A Christmas helps make holiday possible for families

By Chris Ruvo:

The grandmother from Levittown was doing her best to keep up with her granddaughters, who lived with her.

Still, given her age and a disability, it wasn’t easy coming up with a way to pay for necessities.

That was why, come the holiday season a few years ago, she contacted Give A Christmas for a little help.

“I cannot give them much at all,” the grandmother hand wrote in a letter requesting assistance, before explaining she didn’t want to disappoint her granddaughters at the holiday. “I would like to put something under the tree for them.”

Give A Christmas was happy to fulfill the holiday wish — as it has for thousands of Lower Bucks County residents in need since launching 60 years ago.

Conducted by Levittown-Bristol Kiwanis Club in partnership with the Bucks County Courier Times, Give A Christmas centers on collecting and distributing monetary donations to families experiencing financial hardship in Lower Bucks.

Usually, the money is dispersed as $25 vouchers for children. The vouchers are redeemable at participating local supermarkets — Acme, Redner’s Market, Selecto Market — and other stores, including Barnes & Noble and Burlington Coat Factory.

“We need to make sure all our neighbors are cared for, not just a select few,” said Howie Kay, a Kiwanis volunteer involved with Give A Christmas. “We do this because we care.”

As do many Courier Times readers.

In 2016, readers donated $112,232.82 to Give A Christmas. That outpouring of support powered the distribution of vouchers to 4,651 children in Lower Bucks County.

This holiday season, the Courier and Kiwanis hope to raise $120,000. Hitting that mark would add to the $4.5 million Give A Christmas has raised for locals in need since the program’s inception.

While those numbers are heartening, another set of numbers tells a sad tale.

Some 6.6 percent of Bucks County’s population — that’s more than 41,800 people — live below the poverty line. As troubling, many others who are technically above the poverty line also struggle, unable or barely able to earn sufficient money to cover the costs of living.

By donating to Give A Christmas, Courier Times readers help bring hope and holiday cheer to those neighbors.

Contributors can rest assured that their contributions go to people truly in need. Educators in Lower Bucks County schools, along with other do-gooding agencies, help the Kiwanis Club identify families who will truly benefit from Give A Christmas. Senior citizens experiencing hardship may also receive vouchers after the requests from families with children have been met.

The support is deeply appreciated by recipients like the grandmother from Levittown.

“It is very hard this time of year,” she wrote. “If you could help me get (my granddaughters) a toy and some holiday love it would be nice.”

Help another neighbor do just that for their family this 2017 holiday season. Donate to Give A Christmas.

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