An anonymous donor will help you double your Extend-a-Hand gift this year
Generous community donations to Extend-A-Hand — already at $14,670 in the first week — will be matched by an anonymous Whatcom County couple, the Whatcom Community Foundation announced this week.
Extend-a-Hand donations allow Unity Care NW and the Opportunity Council, which administers the fund, to help Whatcom County families avoid eviction and keep up with medications and care.
The Bellingham Herald has promoted the fund, known before 2006 as Lend-a-Hand, for four decades.
All 2020 gifts, up to a maximum of $75,000, will be matched, doubling the amount available to help Whatcom County residents in need.
“If you’re accumulating debt because you can’t stay current on rent or pay your utility bills or take your child to the doctor, you’re accumulating stress. That’s dangerous for your health and for your family’s health. Having donors work with us to inspire more giving to the Extend-a-Hand Fund with a challenge match means Herald readers can be part of helping to reduce the truly toxic levels of stress caused by the pandemic,” Mauri Ingram, president and CEO Whatcom Community Foundation, wrote in an email to The Bellingham Herald. “We’re grateful to this wonderfully generous couple and to all the fund partners for making it possible.”
Some of those helped this year by the fund, according to the Opportunity Council, include:
▪ A single mom and her infant who were living in their car last winter with no other resources or support systems. Extend-a-Hand funds helped pay for a motel stay. With the support of a case manager, the mother was able to find reliable childcare, a job and a rental home.
▪ A single parent and their child with health issues who were homeless and camping in Bellingham just a week before the statewide stay-home order was passed. With nowhere else to go, no savings or financial resources, no family or friends in the area, and no vehicle, they asked the Opportunity Council for assistance. The agency was able to move the family to a safer location in a motel where they had access to amenities needed for hand washing and sanitation. The family has since moved into a rental unit and is now working on increasing its income.
▪ A father of five who lost his job due to COVID-19 and had fallen behind in rent for several months. He was struggling to pay rent and had been denied unemployment. The Opportunity Council was able to assist the household with getting caught up with the rent thanks to Extend-a-Hand.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Opportunity Council has seen a heavy increase in the need to support families with emergency motel stays, Sheri Burgler Emerson, associate director of the Opportunity Council, told The Herald in an earlier story. The agency also has seen a very high demand for rent assistance and expects that to continue for months.
And, with nearly 40% of Whatcom County households either living in poverty or among the working poor, too many lack access to affordable medications, according to a Unity Care NW report shared by Tamara Tregoning, development officer at Unity Care in an earlier story in The Herald. The pandemic has only increased the number of people struggling due to job loss, sickness, and hardships.
We invite you to extend a helping hand to neighbors in need this holiday season. The Bellingham Herald covers administrative costs up to $50,000 in donations, so gifts directly support people assisted at Unity Care NW and the Opportunity Council.
Donations are tax-deductible, and donors through Dec. 30, 2020, will be recognized in The Herald. You can mail donation checks to Extend-a-Hand, c/o Opportunity Council, P.O. Box 2134, Bellingham, WA 98227
Donations are accepted online via credit card or PayPal or by credit card using the form in The Herald’s print edition Thursday, Nov. 26, or by calling Kaitlyn Miller at 360-734-5121, ext. 333.
