Father’s heart surgery means family is struggling. Here’s how you can help
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 mother of four desperately wants a better life for her family.
Last month, her husband suffered a mild heart attack and underwent quadruple by-pass surgery. At the same time, the transmission went out on the car. Her aging father has moved into the basement of her house. Two of her children are autistic. She is expecting her fifth child in January.
The family has fallen behind in paying their bills.
“Things were bad before that but it’s been a struggle,” she told The Eagle. “My husband can’t work for two months. God blessed him with a second chance for life.
“I’m worried about losing the house or not being able to buy food. It’s hard because I feel like I am taking care of everyone.”
Share the Season has helped pay some bills, but the mother worries about food and how to pay the next month’s mortgage until her husband can go back to work as an aircraft worker.
“I do not work outside the home, but I work very hard inside the home,” she wrote on her Share the Season application. “I try to raise my children up in the ways of the Lord, I coupon all the time, we don’t drink alcohol, smoke or do drugs.”
Share the Season is a joint project of The Eagle, the Wichita Community Foundation and the Salvation Army.
Send contributions to Share the Season at the Wichita Community Foundation, 301 N. Main, Suite 100, Wichita, KS 67202. To donate online, go towww.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. 15. For more information, call 316-263-2769.
Among recent donors:
Andrew and Jamie Mies; anonymous, in honor of Viola Menzies; Edward and Patricia Miller; Darren and Terry Moore, in memory of James Strider; Ann Murray, in memory of Terry Murray; anonymous, in honor of Carole D. Nelson; Randy and Mary Beth Newby; O.S. and Jaclyn Gossard Fund at the Wichita Community Foundation; Kathryn Owens, in honor of David K. Corbin; Janet Pape; Norma Peak, in memory of Larry M. Peak and Elaine Nigh; Larry and Donna Pierce; Gary and JoAnn Pottorff; Corinne Radke; Carolyn Rampey; Gary and Kathryn Regier; David and Sherry Robinson;
Fred and Carol Schwarz, in memory of Milt Sills; Donald and Janet Setser; Elvina Sexton; Douglas and Pauline Sharp; Christopher and Mary Shearn; Richard and Kathy Shoffner; Steve Sigley, in memory of Claredon H. and Mary M. Sigley; R. M. and Phyllis Smith; Michael and Carol Spangler; Keith and Georgia Stevens, in memory of Keeney Stevens; James and Jane Taylor; Robert and Elaine Todd; Volunteer Kansas, Inc.; Shelley Von Merveldt, in honor of Kenny and Mona Smith; Thomas and Alice Wooldridge; William and Judith Ann Wynne; Dwain and Peggy Yearout; and 15 anonymous donors.
This story was originally published November 24, 2017 at 10:00 AM with the headline "Father’s heart surgery means family is struggling. Here’s how you can help."