Widow receives help with bills
Share the Season is an annual campaign that offers one-time aid to people affected by unforeseen hardships. The people are not identified to protect their privacy.
The 63-year-old widow buried her husband last month.
He had been on dialysis for six years. There was no life insurance. The couple had used all their savings paying for medical bills.
She borrowed money to provide her husband of 45 years a small funeral service.
She then turned to Share the Season for help.
“I will be losing my house in two months, all my possessions because I can’t take them with me, and I will not have the opportunity to have my husband’s income until the review appointment at the end of December,” she wrote on her application.
She has been wrapped in grief, she said, not knowing whether to pay utilities, rent or the car payment. Everything was due at once.
“The money was so tight,” she told The Eagle. “I wasn’t working. I was taking care of him and I had to borrow money – even nephews and nieces pitched in to where I could have a small service and get him cremated.”
Share the Season was able to help with some of the bills, which she said helped free up money to bring her rent current.
“They helped me as much as they could and I appreciate it,” she said. “We were not financially set for all of this. I am very thankful and grateful for them helping.”
Share the Season is a joint project of The Eagle, the Wichita Community Foundation and the Salvation Army.
So far this season, it has raised more than $124,744.
Send contributions to Share the Season at the Wichita Community Foundation, 301 N. Main, Suite 100, Wichita, KS 67202. To donate online, go to www.sharetheseason.org. If you have questions about donating, call 316-264-4880.
Donors will be listed in The Eagle; please note if you prefer to remain anonymous.
To apply for help, fill out an application at www.sharetheseason.org or pick one up at the Salvation Army, 350 N. Market. The application deadline is Dec. 17. For more information, call 316-263-2769.
Among the donors:Garret and Kris Burkhardt; Chapter DJ P E O; Joshua and Sheryl Corrigan, in memory of Robert Razook; Patricia Couger; Darrel and Eunice Doerksen; David and Tammy Doyel; Susan Ellis; Phillip Escareno; Elvera Ewald; Thomas Goranson; Dennis Hanson; Bud and Karen Hudson; Dona Hughes; Karl and Joan Krausse; Lloyd and Billie Latimer; Timothy and Jill Lipke, in memory of Mark and Ryan Sageser; Gregg and Lynn Marshall; David and Linda Roberts; Duane and Aletha Van Camp; Ron and Doris Van Etten; Darrel and Patsy Vickers; Darrell Warta; Randall and Sue White; anonymous, in honor of Pamela Clancy Ammar’s birthday; anonymous, in memory of C.I. and Florence Kelsey; anonymous, in memory of John Guthridge; and 11 other anonymous donors.
This story was originally published December 8, 2016 at 3:54 PM with the headline "Widow receives help with bills."