Donations needed to help Merced families

While many Merced families rush to wrap presents, finish holiday baking or prepare to welcome visitors, there are others with a different set of worries: Will the power be shut off? How will I feed my children tonight? Will the landlord force us out?

Elaine Gale hears about such cases as a volunteer with the Salvation Army of Merced. As coordinator of “A Helping Hand at Christmas,” a campaign to help local families during the holidays, Gale talks with people who are struggling to meet basic needs.

“People who have lost their jobs, disabled seniors, people who have had financial problems because of job losses, or who have had deaths in their families and need help with expenses,” Gale said in recalling some of the Mercedians with whom she has spoken recently.

It may be their gas and electricity service is about to be shut off, or they are behind on rent and about to face eviction. Some need to pay for car repairs so they can get to work, she said.

“They are crisis situations that I do deal with,” Gale said during a break from her volunteer work. “If someone is going to get their PG&E turned off, that’s a crisis situation. Or, if someone is going to be turned out and they don’t know where they’re going.

“I had a woman with three children and her husband had left her with all the bills and she did not know where she was going after two weeks because she could not pay the rent,” Gale said.

“A Helping Hand at Christmas,” a joint project launched 28 years ago by the Salvation Army and the Sun-Star, raises money from the community to help those in need who live among us, Gale explained.

The coordinators set a goal of raising $55,000 this year to help local families. But, so far, donations are falling short. As the week opened, the program needed $24,000 to reach the goal.

“We’re hoping that people will see it in their hearts to donate to the causes,” Gale said.

The program is funded by donations made through the Salvation Army. A payment slip printed at the bottom of Wednesday’s front page may be used to direct donations to the campaign.

“Helping Hand” distributes charity awards of about $400 to each family in need – “some a little more, some a little less,” Gale said. All families seeking help are required to meet with Gale and to provide evidence of their financial situation – utility bills and rent receipts, she said.

“So far, 55 families have come this year. I’ve been able to help most of them,” she said.

Money donated to the campaign also pays for 350 food baskets that allow families to celebrate the holiday with a warm meal. “Some people may not have a dinner, but because of the ‘Helping Hand’ program, they will have a nice Christmas dinner.”

Gale, who grew up in Turlock and moved to Merced 45 years ago, has coordinated “A Helping Hand at Christmas” for more than 20 years. Her late husband, Everet, served on the Salvation Army’s advisory board for many years prior to his death two years ago. With a background and former career in business, Gale has been one of the people who helps count the money dropped into the red kettles staffed by bell-ringers at local businesses.

But as the area has been hit by high unemployment, donations have been slower to come in this year, Gale said, and the need for help is even greater.

The cases that affect her the most, she said, are those in which illness or disability has affected a family, such as one local mother of three children who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, she said.

“Of course, the senior citizens are also in my heart because I’m one of them,” the 81-year-old volunteer said.

And while Gale is looking forward to spending time with her own family, including four grandchildren and two great-grandchildren, she cherishes the time she spends meeting with the families who benefit from the campaign “because I love to have a relationship with people, connect with them, help them and also pray with them as I can.”

This story was originally published December 22, 2015 at 5:24 PM with the headline "Donations needed to help Merced families."