EDITORIAL; Consider a gift to the Holiday Fund EDITORIAL; Consider a gift to the Holiday Fund (December 01, 2004)

Almanac readers who want to support local nonprofit groups can double their money by donating to the Holiday Fund during the next four weeks. It is a great way to ensure that your charitable donations are working right here at home.

Ten local agencies that serve families and children are facing a tough fundraising environment during another in a series of slow years for the local economy. Through a partnership with a number of foundations, the Almanac intends to raise more than $100,000 (more than $192,000 was shared by 10 nonprofits last year) to support the agencies and the people who benefit from their services.

With contributions already pledged from the David and Lucile Packard and Rotary Club of Menlo Park foundations, and the prospect of other significant contributions, the Almanac expects all tax-deductible donations to be doubled in size.

During the Holiday Fund campaign, which began last week and will run through December 31, the Almanac will publish articles about 10 agencies that serve local communities, urging readers to make donations. Contributions from readers and the foundations will be divided evenly among the 10 agencies.

As in prior years, the Almanac will publish a coupon each week to advise readers how to make a donation to the fund. And on occasion over the next few weeks, the names of donors who choose to make their contribution public will be published in the Almanac.

All donations made to the campaign will be processed by the Peninsula Community Foundation. In February, the foundation will issue checks to each of the nonprofit organizations. No fees or other charges will be taken from the donations, meaning that 100 percent of the total will go directly to the 10 designated nonprofit agencies.

This year the Almanac's Holiday Fund will help:

** The Boys & Girls Clubs of the Peninsula, which provides after-school support for 2,200 young people, ages 6 to 18.

** CORA (Community Overcoming Relationship Abuse), which provides a comprehensive range of services to prevent domestic violence to 10,000 victims of abuse each year.

** Fair Oaks Community Center, which serves more than 2,600 households annually with services ranging from shelter referral to crisis assistance.

** Ravenswood Family Health Center, which provides a central source of medical and human services for East Palo Alto and southern San Mateo County.

** Second Harvest Food Bank, the largest collector and distributor of food on the Peninsula, which gathers donations from people and businesses and delivers them to service organizations in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties.

** Service League of San Mateo County, which helps rebuild the lives of county jail inmates and former inmates, their children and their families by providing emergency assistance, services and educational programs.

** Shelter Network, which provides short- and long-term transitional housing for more than 1,000 homeless people -- including children -- on the Peninsula.

** St. Anthony's Padua Dining Room, which serves hundreds of hot meals to people in need six days a week and also offers emergency food and clothing assistance from its Menlo Park facility.

** Teen Pregnancy Coalition, which provides sexuality education programs in middle and high schools throughout the county.

** Youth and Family Enrichment Services, which serves runaway and homeless youth, and offers programs in substance abuse and youth development.

We urge you to join other Almanac readers this year in supporting the Holiday Fund. With your help, we can give a major boost to the nonprofit agencies that work hard year-round to help the less fortunate in our community.

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