ANSWER:Donate one to the Queen Anne Helpline's 25th anniversary celebration!
The October Gala & Auction for the Queen Anne Helpline will celebrate 25 years of opening doors of opportunity to our neighborhood. There is just one problem: the Helpline is short on donations with which to raise funds at this terrific event.
Since 1982, Queen Anne Helpline has raised funds to assist local residents with emergent needs. At its inception, the Helpline's total budget was just over $16,500, all from donations and fundraising efforts. Of that, $5,000 went to housing assistance for area residents, most of low income.
The cost of living has risen drastically in the intervening quarter of a century. With that cost-of-living increase, there has been an increase in the number of people who, although working or on assistance for disabilities, are unable to meet basic needs. For example, the Helpline recently assisted a single working mother, with young daughter, holding a full-time job. The mother has been going to school to improve her income-earning capabilities, but could not afford the expense of purchasing necessary school supplies to continue her education. Queen Anne Helpline has assisted her, and she was recently offered a position in her new career at a living wage for herself and her daughter. In addition to such cases, there are more than 1,000 low-income units and shelter beds on Queen Anne.
The Helpline's overall 2007 budget is $281,000 - with $20,000 already gone this year to assist 100 locals with emergent rent problems. Fifty-two of those people are disabled and/or seniors, and 12 instances are families with children.
WE NEED YOUR HELP
None of this can happen without the support of the Queen Anne community. This agency receives no city, state or federal funding. The annual Gala & Auction is the Helpline's largest fundraiser. The 2006 event raised just over $60,000 for aid to clients. Unfortunately, this year the auction is lagging far behind in donated items to raise the funds needed by so many members of this community.
So let's think creatively:
■ Have a favorite restaurant? Ask the management to donate a gift certificate to the Helpline.
■ Have more frequent-flyer airline miles than you can use? Donate them to the 2007 auction!
■ Have a service you can provide? Donate it in the form of a gift certificate to the auction!
Not sure what makes a good donation? Well, one donor has provided a sitdown dinner for 10 at their home. Another idea is a pie a month for the next 12 months! "Services and vacations are great money raisers," according to Donna Hegstrom, auction coordinator. All donations are acknowledged in the catalog (if you wish). Larger donations or package (such as a hotel stay or airline miles) will be acknowledged on screen during the live auction.
To offer items and donations, contact the Helpline office at 2821540 between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. and leave a message, or email queenannhl@aol.com. Monetary donations to the Helpline are always accepted and may be made on the Web site: www.queenannehelpline.org.
For donated items to be listed in the auction catalog, they must be received by Aug. 31. Come see your donations in action at the Seattle Sheraton & Towers on Sunday, Oct. 14, with appetizers, beer, wine and silent auction beginning at 5 p.m.
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