The start of any new year, but especially this one, carries an indelible sense of optimism because it is the start of new possibilities.
This year promises to have more possibilities than ever for the Levittown-Bristol Kiwanis Club after its annual Give A Christmas fundraising drive generated more than $160,000 — and still counting — in donations, the most it has ever received.
“This money opens up an opportunity to help people at a greater capacity than we have ever been able to do,” said Mary Berman, a volunteer at the Kiwanis Club and one of the lead organizers for the fundraiser. “It couldn’t come at a better time, because people are hurting more now than they have in the past.”
The Bucks County Courier Times and the Levittown-Bristol Kiwanis Club have partnered for 63 years to promote and collect donations for the Give A Christmas campaign. Donations poured in from residents in Bucks County and beyond for about two months, contributing to the effort to bring a little holiday joy to needy families in Lower Bucks.
This year’s goal of $120,000 in donations was met about a week-and-a-half before Christmas, one of the earliest years to reach the target. As of Wednesday morning, the fund has collected more than $164,000.
“I’m overwhelmed with the support of all of our readers,” Executive Editor Shane Fitzgerald said. “The Bucks and Montgomery county communities really stepped up when they were most needed. Our eternal thanks to the Bucks County Opportunity Council and the Levittown-Bristol Kiwanis Club for their tireless efforts in our partnership and facilitating helping so many people.”
That total does not include the additional matching funds donated by the Gene and Marlene Epstein Humanitarian Fund. The Epsteins made an early pledge to match donations of $500 and more up to $25,000 to the Give a Christmas funds promoted by the Bucks County Courier Times and its sister paper the Intelligencer. That pledge was bumped up to $50,000 each, and the donations met the goal.
Gene Epstein donated both checks to the Levittown-Bristol Kiwanis Club and the Bucks County Opportunity Council on Dec. 22.
Volunteers from the Kiwanis Club sent out $25 vouchers to eligible families that submitted requests. Those vouchers were then redeemed at participating grocery stores and departments stores in the area. Once all requests have been reviewed, approved and fulfilled by the Kiwanis Club, the leftover money is used throughout the year to provide additional support to the people and families that need it most.
“It’s unbelievable what we are going to be able to do for people this year,” Berman said. “We will continue to help people get through the individual situations they are experiencing.”
Christmas has come and gone, but the club will continue to accept donations for the fund through the middle of January, as it has done every year. The pace has slowed since Dec. 25, but it’s impossible to deny that Bucks County residents have outdone themselves with the level of giving during a trying, uncertain and difficult 2020.
“The community has really shown that we are all in this together,” Berman said. “We just want to thank everyone for their continued generosity and for helping the children and families that are our neighbors.”
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