Share the Season helps family with utility bills, furnace repair
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 52-year-old grandmother has had two surgeries within the past eight months. She and her husband have adopted their granddaughter, who needs therapy.
The grandmother describes her family as low middle-income. She has been a dental hygienist for 32 years.
Her 62-year-old husband is on medical disability.
They both adore their granddaughter.
“She was a little girl exposed at birth to methamphetamine,” the woman said. “She has special needs.”
Until recently, the family was without heat. The furnace had quit. The mortgage was due as car payments and utility bills also piled up.
She heard about Share the Season through stories in The Eagle.
She never expected Share the Season to help.
But they did.
“It has been such a blessing,” she said. “They were so gracious. I couldn’t believe we were chosen. They paid our gas bill. Who does that in today’s society? We were very easily one paycheck away from losing everything.”
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 $140,628.
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 recent donors:
Bill and Patricia Bennett; Scott and Vicki Brooks; Katharine Clark; Esther Cummins; Marlene Edgington; Roy and Beth Heatherly; Stephen and Barbara Holmes; Paulenia Jones in memory of daughter Teresa A. Whitney; Jacqueline and Steven Levings; Richard and Cindy Liptak.
Billy and Carol Myers in memory of Bill Myers; Don Nicholson in memory of Greg Nicholson and Helen McEvoy; Helen Nicoli; Jerome Noll; Douglas and Dawna O’Connor; George and Marilyn Pearson; Fred and Carol Schwarz in memory of Milt Sills; Gary and Carol Shaw; Bernard Stekoll; Bradford and Patricia Sweet.
Doris Uhlig; Michael and Dara Valliere; Thomas and Elaine Ware; N. Brent and Mary Jane Wooten; anonymous in honor of Jim and Audrey Debano; and 14 anonymous donors.
This story was originally published December 13, 2016 at 3:50 PM with the headline "Share the Season helps family with utility bills, furnace repair."