Despite hardships, mom says ‘God is good’

Have you ever tried to raise four kids with no more income than a disability check and some food stamps?

Jessica, a single mom, has to do it every month.

The fact that she has mental health issues that make it impossible for her to work just makes getting by that much harder.

“My check comes in the beginning of the month and by the time Christmas rolls around, that money is gone for food and bills,” said Jessica, whose name has been changed to protect her privacy. “So I try to wait for January, but my 11-year-old’s birthday is Jan. 1, so that makes it really hard.”

Both her daughters, the other is 13, want art supplies for Christmas.

Jessica’s boys are ages 6 and 2 and, as boys will, they want cars and super heroes under the tree.

In fact Jessica and her family will only have a tree this year “because someone gave me a tree, and I needed one. God is good,” she said.

So too are Mercury readers, whose contributions provide the funding that allows Operation Holiday to spread joy during the Christmas season.

Kicking off its 27th year, Operation Holiday has been providing meals and gifts to local families since 1991. The idea behind Operation Holiday is to offer a helping hand to those fam-

ilies who, during the season of giving, are unable to afford what many of us consider holiday staples such as presents and bountiful holiday meals.

Operation Holiday has provided a brighter holiday season to thousands of families with children. Last year more than $50,000 in donations allowed the program to provide food and gifts for 144 families with 447 children in need.

The program was created and exists for children. The mission of Operation Holiday is to ensure that children of the Pottstown area have food to eat and gifts to open, no matter how poor or difficult their family situation may be.

There is no overhead with Operation Holiday and all funds stay in the Pottstown area. Families are referred by more than 20 local agencies and churches.

Funds are collected and audited in a non-profit foundation account managed by staff of The Mercury.

Food, which includes the fixings for a holiday dinner as well as staples for the pantry, is ordered, bought, packed and distributed by Mercury employees and Pottstown High School student government volunteers.

Gift cards for every child in the program 16 years of age or younger are purchased through Boscov’s and distributed in partnership with the referring agencies.

Operation Holiday does not accept families who have not been referred by an agency in order to protect the integrity of the program.

Operation Holiday is funded solely by readers’ contributions. All contributions are tax deductible.

Contributions may be mailed or brought to the offices of The Mercury, Attn: Operation Holiday, 24 N. Hanover St., Pottstown, PA 19464. Make checks payable to “Operation Holiday.”