Goodfellow Fund needs more help to make goal 

Goodfellow Fund needs more help to make goal

Dec 23, 2012 (Menafn - Fort Worth Star-Telegram - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --After two months of work by volunteers who read applications and conducted one-on-one interviews, 19,500 children from about 8,000 families received 50 gift cards to J.C. Penney from the Goodfellow Fund.

Now it's up to Star-Telegram readers to help pay for them.

As of Friday, contributions totaling 780,000 had been received, leaving the charity well short of its announced goal of 1 million, said Goodfellow Fund Executive Director Richard Greene.

However, donations are running about the same pace as in 2011, which eventually raised 866,000, he said.

"I have every confidence that we'll close the gap," he said.

Greene and his crew will be taking a holiday break and won't resume counting donations until Wednesday. Readers who want to recognize the charity's 100th anniversary might remember that "100 for the 100th has a nice ring to it," Greene said.

Catholic Charities of Fort Worth assists Goodfellows by interviewing adult applicants, this year representing about 7,900 families, said Allison Kahlich, Catholic Charities' program manager for financial assistance.

"We had a very successful year," Kahlich said. "We rely on about 100 volunteers. This program would not be able to operate without them."

Greene said it was gratifying to "see the smiles and hear the very sincere 'thank yous' from the parents and guardians."

"I wish each donor could personally experience the sincerity of these families. The experience really makes you reflect on how fortunate many of us are," he said.

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