A family that needs oil to heat their home for the month, a single mom facing unemployment, grandparents taking in their grandchildren who don’t have enough clothes. These are just some of the stories that reach the 22 volunteers of the Levittown Bristol Kiwanis Club. Stories that the club members try to find at most a happy ending, or at the least a reprieve from the hardships.
“For the most part, we interact with people who are situationally needy,” said Jill Saul, president of the Kiwanis Club. “We get referrals from the Bucks County Opportunity Council or from Catholic Social Services because we can connect with people without a lot of red tape. When we encounter those with chronic needs, we try to get them in touch with the agencies that are out there.”
Saul, a retired teacher from the Bristol Township School District, has been a part of the Levittown Bristol Kiwanis Club for about nine years, and she estimates over that time the club has helped north of 40,000 individuals and families. That assistance has manifested in various forms, such as clothing drives, book donations and classroom read-along programs.
The largest impacts have been through the club’s annual Sesame Place Classic 5K, which benefits the Dick Dougherty Scholarship Fund, and the Give a Christmas holiday fundraiser, now in its 63rd year. The Kiwanis Club partners with the Bucks County Courier Times each year to raise money that is then distributed to eligible families in the form of $25 vouchers to local grocery and department stores. Donations can be sent to Kiwanis Club of Levittown-Bristol Foundation Inc., PO Box 862 in Levittown.
Berman says this year’s campaign has raised about $6,000 as of Wednesday, four days after the club started officially collecting donations. That puts this year’s efforts to reach the $120,000 target a little ahead of last year’s identical goal.
“Families have a hard enough time getting through each day, when the focus is to put food on the table and pay the bills,” said Mary Berman, lead organizer of Give a Christmas. “When the expense of Christmas is added to the mix, it can create a lot of stress.”
The Kiwanis Club volunteers are determined to help as many children as possible get a taste of the holiday magic, and those efforts are well-received by the recipients. After the holidays, the club frequently receives thank you cards from parents grateful for the help.
“We receive most of our Give a Christmas referrals from teachers,” Berman said. “Last year, one of our teachers was coming out of one of the stores which accept the vouchers and ran into a student and his grandparent. The student told the teacher to look at the new pants he had on, and the grandparent said they got the pants using the vouchers. It was pretty neat for the teacher to see the real impact she made.”
Applications from families seeking assistance have come in at a slower pace than the donations, Berman said, an expected consequence of virtual classrooms during the pandemic. Some of the letters have been asking for more than money, Berman said, a concerning sign that things are getting worse for people. One letter from a family forced to move in with grandparents has asked for clothing for two young girls.
“Jill and I are going to buy some warm clothes for them, but the pandemic has made it a little harder to go out clothes shopping,” Berman said. “We will probably go online to find the clothes, instead. The pandemic has created some obstacles, but that is just inspiring us to get more creative with our solutions.”
Sharing is caring