Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, January 18, 1993 TAG: 9301180030
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
FUND TOTAL REACHES $97,252
"It's not much, but like Grandpa used to say, `Every little bit counts,' " wrote Bill Richardson of Salem, who was one of the last contributors to the Good Neighbors Fund.Even though the Good Neighbors Fund drive for Roanoke Area Ministries ended Jan. 1, donations still trickled in, raising the total contributions from slightly more than $92,000 to $97,252.29.
While that's almost $30,000 short of last year's total, it's still a significant amount of money the independent religious organization will use in 1993 to provide food, medicines, daytime shelter and financial help to the valley's poor and homeless.
And though it's less than RAM budgeted in 1992 for emergency financial assistance and RAM House funding, "We are still committed to more than 75 percent of all the money we spend going back out in the community," said RAM's executive director, Julie Hollingsworth. "That's a commitment."
Last year, $107,151 of the Good Neighbors Fund went to emergency financial assistance and $18,000 went to the RAM House day shelter. Of the financial assistance fund, most - more than $50,000 - was used to pay utility bills for those in need. The second-highest amount, almost $31,000, helped pay for housing. The rest was spent in miscellaneous funds for things like eyeglasses, work boots or dental care, and on transportation, medical help and the Second Mile Program that helps pay mortgages to keep people in their homes.
The $18,000 that was budgeted for the shelter was unused, and is now being used to meet emergency financial assistance requests in '93.
Hollingsworth said most of this year's money will go to the emergency assistance fund again, but she said RAM was unsure how much, if any, would benefit the shelter.
Already, Hollingsworth said RAM has been "inundated" with requests for help since the first of the year. But she's completely confident RAM will be able to honor the requests, despite the smaller number of dollars the Good Neighbors Fund was able to provide this year.
"We never say `no' to people who have immediate crisis needs," she said. If the money isn't there from one source, she said they'll find another.
Ever hopeful that more money will find its way to RAM, Hollingsworth said, "I still think it's going to come in."
Checks should be made payable to Good Neighbors Fund and mailed to Roanoke Times & World-News, P.O. Box 1951, Roanoke 24008.
Names - but not the amounts of donations - of contributing businesses, individuals or organizations, as well as memorial and honorific designations, will be listed. Those requesting that their names not be used will remain anonymous. If no preference is stated, the donor's name will be listed.
Gifts cannot be earmarked for any particular individual or family. Gifts are tax-deductible.
Contributions include:
C.P. Caldwell Jr.
Lois Powers
Bill, Joanna and Kay Caldwell, in honor of health-care workers at Friendship Manor Convalescent Center
Spencer and Joy Frantz
Madge Ray
Anonymous, in memory of Paul Agee and Billie Woods Agee
Louis Mullineaux
Mrs. Frank Van Buren
Frances Lowe
Helen Sandridge
Doug Craig
Dr. and Mrs. Robert Hopper, in memory of George Richard Hopper and Elizabeth Draper Hopper
Dr. and Mrs. William Reefe
Mrs. James Lambie
E. Lemon
Tom and Angie Harvey
Jim and Sandy Snead, in memory of Samuel Robert Snead
C.F. Phillips II
Mary Walthall
Garst Bishop
Davidson of Roanoke
The Ayers
Roy Hylton
Jordan and Suzanne Mitchell
Evelyn Ray
Mr. and Mrs. W.E. Clement, in memory of William D. "Bill" Clement
Hilda Reinhardt, in memory of George Reinhardt
Louise Munson, in memory of Fred Munson
Otis Williams
Frances Hensley
Mrs. C.I. Bartley
W. Adkins, in memory of Frank A. and Margaret L. Aiken
George Gorbatenko
Susan and Geoff Jennings and children, in memory of Robert W. Woods
Keenan, Rachel, Sue and Don Porterfield, in memory of James Lionel Surratt
Lucy Carroll
Mr. and Mrs. Richard Wills
Richard and Lisa Lovegrove
Windsor Hills United Methodist Church Tours, Roanoke
Bertha Hylton
D. Kahill
Anonymous, in memory of James LaRocco
J. Diehl
John Sink
Anonymous, in memory of Cletus Kyle and Landon Simpson
Lois King
B.B. Matthews
Anonymous, in memory of Raymond E. Polk Sr.
F.A. Whittaker, in memory of Don Weddle
Bob and Sandy Johnson
Becky Waid
Richard and Judith Clark
Jerry and Lucy Blankenship, in memory of Paul Blankenship
Don and Claire Waldron
Blue Ridge Memorial Gardens Inc., in memory of James W. Springer
Jean Seleno, in memory of Blanche and Ralph Daniel
Paul and Melody Moore, in honor of Margaret Tyree
Kathryn Haynie, in honor of Mr. and Mrs. L. Graham Haynie Jr.
The Roberts
Bill Richardson
Roanoke Valley Shag Club
Alison Sulloway
Mildred Naff
Helen Ager
ANONYMOUS DONATIONS $1,125.00 SUBTOTAL $5,025.00
TOTAL AS OF JAN. 15, 1993 $97,252.29