Children’s Christmas Fund launches annual giving
The season is here, the season of giving, and the Children’s Christmas Fund is asking for your help.
For nearly 70 years, the Children’s Fund has been helping those in need. The Fund provides each family a Christmas dinner plus a little extra for the pantry, as well as gifts for the little ones. The onset of COVID has made this year especially hard for some – the Children’s Christmas Fund is there to do its best to make a difference.
The names of those receiving gifts are kept anonymous.
The Fund traces its roots to the Custer County Chief when then-publisher Harry Purcell gathered a trio of businessmen in the spirit of giving. They wanted to gather a few Christmas presents, trimmings for a tree, and a little food for a family or two they knew to be struggling. Over the next couple of years, as the number of families on the list multiplied, the trio went public with a plea for help.
In 1953, the following notice appeared in the Custer County Chief.
“A Fund has been started by a group of Broken Bow businessmen with a goal of raising enough money to ensure that no child in Broken Bow or the surrounding area will be without toys and the trimmings at Christmas, a children’s holiday …”
The fund brought in $168 that year. The paper didn’t say how many families were helped, but the paper did emphasize that the need was apparent and the giving humbling. It was around that time the Broken Bow Does offered to help.
“I think it is important to note that 100 percent of the moneys donated to the Children’s Christmas Fund go to help those less,” Children’s Fund Board member Deb McCaslin said. “There are no overhead costs, no salaries to pay. Everyone working for and with the Children’s Christmas Fund serves as a volunteer. The fund is there to help families in need, not just at Christmas, but throughout the year as needs occurred.”
Checks should be made out to the Custer County Foundation, ear-marked for the Children’s Christmas Fund, and either mailed to the Children’s Christmas Fund at PO Box 24, Broken Bow, NE 68822, or dropped directly off at the Custer County Foundation or the Custer County Chief.
PLEASE NOTE: Names of those donating to the Children’s Christmas Fund will be recognized in the Chief just after the first of the year. Please remember to annotate how you would like the recognition to read and if the donation is in someone’s memory.
From the Children’s Christmas Fund Board of Directors (Penny Ashenfelter, Donnis Bullock, Jenny Denson, Julianna Jenkins, Nicole Johnk, Trish McCarron, Carolyn Mohler and Deb McCaslin), and families across central Nebraska, Thank you!
“If you know of a family or a child in need, please reach out to any of the Children’s Fund Board members or email CusterCountyChilrensFund@gmail.com. Emergencies happen year round, and the Children’s Christmas Fund is there to help,” McCaslin added.