Season of giving: ELF Fund kick-off breakfast means gift tags are now available By RUTH BOGDAN Era Reporter r.bogdan@bradfordera “We help because to fail to do so hurts us. It hurts all of us.” This was the message from speaker Daniel Wertz to guests attending Wednesday’s Era’s Less Fortunate (ELF) Fund kick-off breakfast. Wertz is the director of McKean County Children and Youth Services. With the ELF Fund campaign under way, tags are now available for residents who wish to purchase gifts for needy children and seniors this Christmas. Each tag has the clothing and gift wishes for a recipient. The breakfast, held at the First Presbyterian Church, allows people from local businesses and organizations to gather and spread the interest in taking part in the ELF Fund. Santa Claus greeted participants as they arrived, and volunteers were at the door handing out envelopes of tags that will be distributed at each participants’ respective businesses or organizations. The Rev. Katherine Randall, co-pastor at the First Presbyterian Church, gave an invocation and benediction. As attendees ate breakfast, catered by the Kennedy Street Cafe, they listened to speakers discuss the ELF Fund and its importance to the Bradford community. The next challenge for the ELF Fund is to distribute the tags. ELF chairman Ed Hayden is hoping more Main Street business owners will volunteer to put up a tree to hold ELF tags. “We want to get some life downtown,” he said. Hayden said not only will an ELF tree be a way to get tags to shoppers, but it is also a way to get Christmas shoppers into downtown stores. He noted the ELF Fund will be advertising where people can get tags, so that may be another incentive for shop owners to take part. There are still about 175 tags that need distributed, he said. Business owners can call 596-7484 if they wish to participate. During Wednesday’s breakfast, Hayden asked the crowd, “Have you ever had one of those days when you think it can’t be any worse?” Then Hayden talked about the difficult issues some ELF recipients are dealing with. “I’ll ask you again. How bad’s your worst day?” On a lighter note, Hayden added there are fewer recipients this year than last. Last year, the ELF Fund served about 100 seniors, while this year, it’s serving 85. There are 212 families — about 450 children — who are receiving gifts this year. “We will distribute over 1,000 gifts,” said Hayden. This means if people follow the $30 price limit, Bradford residents will spend about $30,000 in gifts for ELF Fund recipients this year, he explained. “That’s truly amazing.” During a speech from guest speaker Wertz, he talked about the reason why people give. According to Wertz, of the 8,811 children in McKean County, 10 percent are at risk for abuse or have been abused, and 1 percent have been placed into alternative settings, which cost $1.5 million to $1.75 million annually. However, no matter what the numbers say, this is not the driving factor for the people who spend their hard-earned money and volunteer hours of their free time to the ELF Fund, according to Wertz. “The bottom line is, there has to be more,” said Wertz. “There’s more to why we give.” Wertz recalled seeing a 10-year-old boy and his sister in court on a custody issue on Dec. 21, 2007, and then-President Judge John Cleland was asking the children questions. According to Wertz, instead of being concerned with his own welfare or his belongings so close to the holiday, the boy asked, “Who’s going to be with my dad on Christmas?” Wertz was moved by this demonstration of compassion by a boy for his father. It is that compassion that drives humans to give to those who are less fortunate, he said. ELF Fund volunteers talked at the breakfast about the giving that happens through the organization. Board member Chelsea Place talked about the participation from inmates at the Federal Correctional Institution-McKean. Place said carpentry students at FCI-McKean make wooden toys to distribute to children, as well as wooden items to be auctioned at the Festival of Trees. Bradford Forest donates all the wood. Meanwhile, culinary students at FCI-McKean bake more than 2,500 cookies for the senior holiday party, and other inmates use their own time and money to make leather items for the organization. “They take great pride in their contributions they make to the ELF Fund,” Place said. Kate Kloss, the new chairperson of the Festival of Trees, said auction items are “starting to roll in” for the annual ELF Fund fundraiser, which will be held on Nov. 20 at the Bradford Club. The theme is “From Hearts to Homes.” Board member Margie Brown said after the event the Woody Woodruff Award will be presented to long-time ELF Fund volunteer Marty Wilder during the Festival of Trees. Brown added that a gingerbread house contest to benefit the ELF Fund is currently going on. Residents can submit their homemade gingerbread houses through Nov. 15 to any Northwest Savings Bank branch. The houses will be on display at the banks, and people can vote with pennies for their favorite. Senior holiday party chairperson Harrijane Moore said the event will be held a week later than usual on Dec. 14 at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford. “Last year’s entertainment was so phenomenal” that the duo —Dan & Gala — was invited back to entertain attendees. The Area Transportation Authority (ATA) and Bradford Area School District will bus seniors to Pitt-Bradford to attend, Moore said. Hayden noted after the breakfast that The Era, as the ELF Fund’s sponsor, offers a great deal of support to the organization.
Posted on: Thu, 06 Nov 2014 03:44:16 +0000
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