Sometimes, the descriptions of those who seek assistance through The Garden Island/Zonta Club Christmas Fund are brief. We don’t really know much about them, but we do know they are having rough times and could use some Christmas cheer.
Here are a few of those brief descriptions:
• Single mom, unable to work due to child’s medical.
• Child abandoned by parents. Paternal aunt has custody.
• Child is in foster care due to physical abuse. Foster family loves him.
• Family is struggling financially. Both parents are disabled; two children.
• Two-parent family with five kids, kupuna living with them, as well.
• Parent injured, had surgery, and out of work for three months.
You get the idea.
There are a lot of folks out there facing an array of personal and professional troubles and likely have little hope. The challenges are many and varied, and oftentimes, beyond their ability to deal with.
That’s where the community comes in.
The Garden Island shares daily through Christmas Eve about real people (we don’t use their real names) facing challenges and who would appreciate a little help through The Garden Island/Zonta Christmas Fund.
In the past two years, the fund has raised more than $50,000, and every dollar has gone toward bringing joy to those who otherwise would likely go without anything on Christmas.
This program has been around since the 1980s and is headed up by Dimples Kano, 93, who has led it for nearly two decades and refuses to retire because she loves the happiness it brings to others.
This year, about 400 families applied for help through the fund.
Donations to the Christmas Fund are used by Zonta Club members to purchase local gift certificates that are in turn distributed via social service agencies to families in December.
Checks, payable to Zonta Club of Kauai Foundation, can be mailed to P.O. Box 3032, Lihue, HI 96766. For further information, call Kano at 822-4517.
