Donate for the holidays
With the holidays approaching, it’s time, once again, to ask for the community’s help in donating to those less fortunate.
The Northeast Times’’ Eleanor Smylie Community Fund is a charitable effort that originated in 1955 and has since helped thousands of local families during the holiday season. The Smylie Fund matches families in need with community members who can offer help. All money collected is used to buy gift cards and provide holiday dinners to those who are struggling to make ends meet.
Each donation will make a difference, regardless of the amount, and will help provide a holiday meal and ensure each child will have at least one present.
The Northeast Times will accept any donation amount — large or small — and will publish your name in the list of donors in the newspaper. If you prefer to donate anonymously, we can honor that request as well.
The Northeast Times’ Eleanor Smylie Community Fund is a local outreach effort and an opportunity to help your neighbor down the street or a few blocks away. The newspaper absorbs all administrative costs, so every penny donated goes directly to those in need.
In 2012, the community fund was able to help 212 families and four social service organizations.
If you would like to request help, or if you know of someone who could use assistance during the holidays, please take a few minutes to write a letter. The address is:
Eleanor Smylie Community Fund
2512 Metropolitan Drive
Trevose, PA 19053
Tell us your story, and be sure to include a name and contact information for an agency or person for verification. Requests can also be sent through email to pronews@bsmphilly.com. Everything about the process will remain anonymous.
If you are able to donate, please send a check to the Eleanor Smylie Community Fund at the address above. This is an opportunity to help the community we all love so dearly. ••
Thanks for voting
Thank you to my neighbors in the Northeast. Although not elected district attorney, I am humbled that I won among working-class families concentrated in the River Wards and the Northeast.
I am told that these votes came from Republican households and many Democratic households who split the ticket, putting politics aside and rejecting business as usual.
From my family to yours, thank you and God bless. God bless the working-class who are the backbone of this city — playing by the rules and keeping the city running, despite a government that is failing us.
Danny Alvarez, Esq.
Republican Nominee for District Attorney, Somerton ••
Support the American Lung Association
Dear Editor,
Too many people are being diagnosed with lung cancer everyday — those who smoke, and those who don’t. It’s heartbreaking.
We, as a society, need to be advocates for cleaner, healthier air to breathe and help people quit smoking, and make sure children never start.
Healthy clean air is a sure way to prevent people from getting lung disease — air that is free from pollution and tobacco smoke.
Last year, I lost my dad to lung cancer. What he went through before he died, no one should have to experience. He had to have a lung removed.
In addition to that, his voice box was bruised, and he could not speak. He had to make several hospital visits because he wasn’t able to breathe properly.
When he was healthy, he was able to attend my sons’ baseball games. Towards the end of his life, he had to be carried in and out of a wheelchair. We can all start by supporting our local American Lung Association chapter. Their programs are invaluable in the fight for clean air.
Sincerely,
Bonnie LaPlace
Pittsburgh ••
