Myla is a mother of seven children, all of whom live with her and her husband. Between the nine household members, they share one bedroom. They sleep on a mattress on the floor.
They don’t have any shelves/dressers to place their clothes in and the bedding often gets dirty from it being on the floor. Myla and family would appreciate any support in the form of a new mattresses: toddler sized, air mattress and dressers or a bunk bed.
Myra remains home to care for the small children while the husband works.
Myra is just one of the hundreds of people who will be helped through the Garden Island/Zonta Christmas Fund that is underway. Through Christmas Eve, The Garden Island will share daily, front page stories about families (we don’t use their real names but the circumstances described are real) facing challenges and who would appreciate a little help.
The Garden Island/Zonta Christmas Fund is an avenue for everyone to provide that assistance. Donations to the Christmas Fund are used by Zonta Club members to purchase gift certificates to make wishes come true. The certificates of various amounts are distributed via social service agencies and can be used at local stores.
New this year, the Hale Uluwehi Kauai Fund announced that it will provide a dollar-for-dollar match for donations of $100 or greater. It will match the total up to $5,000 and, if there’s great success, will consider adjusting that figure higher.
Here’s how the program works:
Families apply for assistance through social service agencies, which in turn connects with the Zonta Club of Kauai.
Each donated dollar is accounted for and carefully recorded. Rest assured, the money is spent wisely.
There are no administrators collecting salaries. There are no hidden costs. The money goes directly to provide gift certificates to those who need them for gifts and groceries. The gift certificates are distributed in early December.
If you hold a fundraiser for the Christmas Fund, let us know and we’ll spread the word. Anyone making a donation of $50 or more may have his or her picture presenting the check published in TGI.
The Garden Island/Zonta Christmas Fund was established in the early 1980s when Jean Holmes was editor of TGI.
Only monetary donations are accepted. Checks, payable to Zonta Club of Kauai Foundation, can be mailed to P.O. Box 3032, Lihue, HI., 96766. For further information, call 822-4517.
The following are stories of just a few of the people who could use help. While their names have been changed, the situations described are real.
w Dotty loves clothes including sweaters and getting little gifts for her grandchildren. She lives alone and her daughter visits when she is not working or caring for her grandchildren. Dotty relies on her Social Security to help her pay or her monthly expenses which leaves little extra money to buy things for herself. She would really enjoy something new this Christmas.
w Arlette is a very kind 78-year-old widow who has been a caregiver to several people she was very close to her in life. Sadly, she has lost all of them. Most recently she lost a very dear friend and so the holiday’s aren’t looking too happy for her. She could definitely use some extra holiday cheer.
