By Chris Ruvo:
In the smiles and laughter of children, Mary Berman saw the magic of Give A Christmas at work.
For 45 years, Berman was an educator in Lower Bucks County. When she’d return to school from Christmas break, she’d listen to the talk of smiling students happily discussing their holidays. And she knew, that for some, donations to Give A Christmas — an annual campaign that benefits locals struggling with financial hardship during the holidays -- had helped make that joy possible.
“I often saw the end result of someone opening their hearts to donate to this cause,” Berman said.
Indeed, she recalls the young boy who said to a teacher that for Christmas he only wanted the electricity turned back on in his apartment so he could drink hot chocolate and look at his Christmas tree. A donation turned that wish into a reality.
“Give A Christmas makes an impact on the community even with the smallest of donations," Berman said.
Readers of the Bucks County Courier Times have a chance to be part of the good-doing by contributing to this year’s Give A Christmas campaign.
Now in its 60th year, Give A Christmas is an altruistic initiative the Levittown-Bristol Kiwanis Club conducts in partnership with the Courier. It centers on collecting and distributing monetary donations to families experiencing financial hardship in Lower Bucks County.
The support comes in the form of $25 vouchers for children that are redeemable at participating local supermarkets — Acme, Redner’s Market, Selecto Market — and other stores, including Barnes & Noble and Burlington Coat Factory. Senior citizens in need may also receive vouchers after the requests from families with children have been met.
“Many of us feel that Christmas is having a gift under the tree,” said Berman, a Kiwanis member. “We don’t realize that for some families their Christmas is being able to go to the store with their ‘Give A Christmas’ voucher to buy food and put a Christmas meal on the table.”
In 2016, Courier Times readers generously contributed $112,232.82 to Give A Christmas. That money enabled the distribution of vouchers to 4,651 children in Lower Bucks.
This year, Kiwanis Club and the Courier are calling on the community to help achieve a more ambitious fundraising goal — $120,000. Of course, any funds that come in are welcomed and will add to the more than $4.5 million the campaign has raised over the decades.
Make no mistake: The money is needed. In Bucks County, nearly 42,000 people — that’s approximately 6.6 percent of the population — live below the poverty line.
But with Give A Christmas, locals have a chance to alleviate some of the strain on their neighbors in need – to help more children return to school from the holiday break with smiles on their faces.
As Berman said, “Giving makes a difference.”
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