Operation Holiday thanks readers for gifts

More than 500 donations ranging from $10 to $1000 poured in for Operation Holiday.

As people throughout the world celebrate the holidays of December, be it Christmas or Hanukkah or just the end of another year, many reflect on the blessings they enjoy and the unfortunate circumstances of others who may be struggling.

In this year of the COVID-19 pandemic, reflections are especially poignant. The loss through illness, separation, no income, and death has been the story of our world since March.

And as we try to bring light into our homes and scaleddown celebrations, our humanity insists that we remember the struggles of others, especially those in our own communities. That spirit has for 30 years guided Operation Holiday, bringing together an opportunity for newspaper readers to give to this program that provides gifts and food for struggling families of the region.

This year’s response matched the increase in need.

More than 500 donations ranging from $10 to $1,000 have poured in to Operation Holiday. To date, the total exceeds $53,000 — and donations are still coming in.

Those funds provided $100 gift cards for 226 children in local families and $120 in food gift cards for those families as well.

In non-pandemic years, the volunteers of Operation Holiday pack two boxes of food with the fixings for a holiday meal and staples for the pantry. The packing could not take place this year due to COVID restrictions, so families received $120 in grocery gift cards in its place.

We recognize that for many, that won’t feed their families in the bleak winter months. In November, we launched a Season of Caring series to highlight the work of food pantries in our region. Those pantries told our reporters that hunger was as much as four times what they see in a normal year.

“The numbers are through the roof,” Helping Harvest spokesman Doug Long told The Reading Eagle for a profile on the Berk County-based food bank that provides to 320 food distribution sites, including food pantries, soup kitchens, mobile markets, homeless shelters and school programs.

In Montgomery County, LeeAnn Rooney, executive director of The Patrician Society, said that in the months from March to May, the number of families serviced by the food cupboard doubled from 480 to 800 a month.

At the Pottstown Cluster of Religious Communities, executive director Barbara Wilhemy said they stopped counting. “We decided it was more important to feed them than to worry about how many there were,” Wilhemy said..

Because of this extreme need and because we recognize these pantries will feed the struggling families of our communities, Operation Holiday this year is expanding to donate to food pantries in the communities where the families referred to the program reside.

The number of pantries and amount donated will be determined at the end of the fundraising campaign on December 31.

Our local news sites are proud to be the conduit for our readers’ generosity to reach those in need.

Every dollar raised stays local and goes to those less fortunate in the towns where we live, where we worship, where we shop, and where we get our local news. There is no overhead with Operation Holiday. Families are referred and donations distributed by social service agencies who partner with us. Weis Markets and Boscov’s provide discounts for the gift cards we purchase. TriCounty Community Network provides a portal for online donations.

The employees of MediaNews Group write the stories of need in the region and manage both the procurement of gifts and the donations. Operation Holiday is part of a nonprofit foundation that maintains separate finances.

We thank our readers for supporting local charities. Your gifts make the season brighter for those less fortunate.

Contributions can be mailed to The Mercury, Attn: Operation Holiday, PO Box 1181, Pottstown, PA 19464, or The Reporter, 307 Derstine Ave., Lansdale PA 19446. Make checks payable to “Operation Holiday.” Online donations are being accepted in a secure portal in partnership with TriCounty Community Network. Visit https://tcnetwork. org/ and click on the link for Operation Holiday.