At this time last year, Dawn Coughlin was distraught. Her twolittle girls needed coats and boots, and there was nowhere to squeezethe extra money from.
The single mother, a public aid recipient, watched her babies gounprotected in the cold.
"Then it came, the day after Christmas. I was so grateful forthat check," Coughlin said. "God knew I couldn't afford it. I hadn'tbeen able to get them any toys, and without that check they wouldn'thave had coats."
Coughlin and her two children were among the guests Wednesday ata kickoff luncheon for the Neediest Families Christmas Fund,co-sponsored by the Illinois Public Aid Department and the FirstNational Bank of Chicago.
The fund, in its 19th year, continues its tradition of makingthe holiday season just a little brighter for families on welfare.And the fund-raising goal this year is the same as it has alwaysbeen: "to reach one more family than last year."
Started in the 1940s, when Public Aid Department caseworkerstook up collections for individual clients, the fund has grown byleaps and bounds, raising $22.3 million to date and assisting nearly1 million needy Chicagoans. Last year, it raised $953,000 andbrightened Christmas for some 45,000.
It also has become the pet project of WGN-AM personality WallyPhillips, who annually raises almost half of the collection throughappeals for his "Neediest Kids' Fund," and it is co-chaired by talkshow host Oprah Winfrey.
The fund has no overhead, so 100 percent of the collection goesto Public Aid families. The bank collects donations free of charge,and the department makes payments of $20 a person, $100 a family.
"From those of us to whom much is given, much is expected,"Winfrey said at the luncheon. "The spirit of Christmas is really thespirit of giving, the spirit of Christ, no matter what religion youare."
Anyone interested in contributing to the 1988 Neediest FamiliesChristmas Fund can send donations to: P.O. Box 2300, Chicago 60690,or you can phone (1-312) 793-3330 for more information.
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