Community-wide Christmas plea pays off

12/24/2013

By Jim Poole

A last-minute appeal to help needy families at Christmastime succeeded beyond anyone's expectations.
The Community-wide Christmas Collaboration hoped a story in last week's Times-Journal would raise $3,000 for families.
The community stepped up with more than $20,000 instead.
"It really is something the way this area cares for others," said Judy McLaughlin of Head Start and the Schoharie County Child Development Council.
"It's wonderful. . .the community spirit and the decency."
Agencies that help children and families formed the Christmas Collaboration last year to make sure the needy had gifts during the holidays.
That drive helped 108 families with 158 kids. This year, 210 families with 455 children had signed up for help by mid-December--and more were on the way.
But donations hadn't come close to equaling the 2012 amount. So Ms. McLaughlin called the Times-Journal, and The Daily Gazette pitched in with a story, too.
After the stories came out, the money came in. On Thursday, donations were coming in at $1,000 per hour, Ms. McLaughlin said.
"Somebody in Connecticut got his paper and sent $1,000," she added. "People were coming in off the street with $25, $50, $200 as soon as the Times-Journal came out."
Sizable donations came in from Fenimore Asset Management, Sterling Insurance, the Donna Lavigne Agency, SALT, retired Marines, the Iroquois Pipeline and others.
The City Mission of Schenectady sent a school bus full of goods, and Head Start sent a bus and a pick-up to collect items donated in Saratoga.
Locally, people brought in food, clothing and toys, and families have been picking up the goods and gift cards.
"When families come, we have enough so they have options of what to get," Ms. McLaughlin said.
"There's enough so that a family can get a gift card--maybe up to $110--and if they have three kids, they can get three gifts each. That's a pretty nice Christmas, I think."
The demand was greater, too. While the Christmas Collaboration expected 210 families and 455 kids, Ms. McLaughlin estimated the drive helped 230 families and 500-plus children.
"You see them come in and see how strapped they are," she said. "And when they leave, they feel so great."
The donations have been so generous, Ms. McLaughlin said, that the Christmas Collaboration will have money to start next year's drive.
"It makes me want to cry. It's just miraculous," she said.