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About the
Pelham Good Neighbor Fund
The Pelham Good Neighbor Fund
was established in 1969 by Pelham residents who wanted to
provide food and financial assistance for their less
fortunate neighbors. Since the fund was started, over
2,100 residents have received assistance with either their
heating oil, electricity, food, rent, transportation and
other household expenses.
Currently, there is a core committee of
16 active members who volunteer their time to help our
neighbors in need 52 weeks a year.
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THE PELHAM GOOD NEIGHBOR FUND’S ACTIVITIES IN 2011
The Pelham
Good Neighbor Fund committee have just completed 42
years of helping our Neighbors In Need and since we
are all volunteers who are dedicated and committed
to this worthy cause, 100% of the donations we
receive goes back into the community. The committee
had a very busy and challenging year in 2011 due to
the poor economy and the high unemployment but we
were able to take care of 48 residents in Pelham
throughout the year for their household expenses
including rent, heat, electricity food amounting to
$36,165.00 and during the Christmas season, we
provided toys, clothing and food to 68 families
including 121 children. We had a lot of help along
the way including the Post Office where we
coordinated our 15th Annual Food Drive for the Food
Pantry of Pelham at St. Patrick Parish, our 21st
Annual Sponsor-A-Child program where residents in
town purchase gifts for the children and families
for Christmas and our 42nd Annual Christmas Drive
where volunteers from the various organizations
including: The American Legion Post 100, Veterans of
Foreign Wars Post 10722, St. Patrick Knights of
Columbus Council 6902, the Pelham Firefighters
Association and the Cub Scouts Pack 25 collected
food and cash donations at the Pelham Plaza. I would
also like to thank the Derry/Salem Elks Lodge#2226
for donating food to 21 families including 35
children in Pelham. In addition, we receive
donations throughout the year from businesses,
organizations, schools, churches, families and
individuals. We held our 18th Annual Golf Tournament
and our 42nd Annual Christmas Drive. These donations
and our fundraisers have made it possible to provide
financial assistance to our Pelham residents for
household expenses, the food pantry, and financially
support a men’s and women’s shelter who cover
residents of Pelham. In addition, we awarded three
scholarships amounting to $5500.00 to high school
seniors who have a financial need and have been
accepted at a college and over the past twelve
years, we have awarded 15 scholarships amounting to
$35,500.00. The Pelham Good Neighbor Fund received
the VFW Loyalty Award for our volunteer work in
providing financial assistance to our less fortunate
residents. Our slogan is People Helping People where
the people in the community work together and more
importantly care about the people they help. The
committee would like to thank you for your support
and we look forward to being of service to the
community in the year 2012.
Frank
Sullivan
President |
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Pelham Good Neighbor Fund Committee
Front Row left to
right: Cheryl Brunelle, Gerty Sousa, Darlene Michaud
and Linda Pace
Back Row left to right: Jimmy Roche, Mary Ann Roche,
Marcia Sweezey, Nancy Vachon, Ann Marie Lacharite,
Debbie Boucher and Frank Sullivan
Missing from the picture: Chuck Curtis, Priscilla
Pike-Church, Dennis Hogan, Deb Peglow and Bonnie
Ward |
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The Pelham Good Neighbor Fund Mission |
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Our mission is to provide Pelham residents who
are in financial need, with emergency assistance
for rent, heat, electricity, food and other
critical expenses. In order to provide financial
assistance to our Neighbors In Need, we have our
Annual Golf Tournament and Christmas Drive. In
addition, we receive donations from the local
business community, organizations, schools,
churches, families and individuals throughout
the year. The people in Pelham have been very
supportive in good times as well as bad times.
This support has allowed us to help the people
in town who are going through some difficult
times. When people call us looking for help, we
treat everyone with respect because we know that
they are embarrassed about their situation and
we tell them that our conversation will be held
in strict confidence. We ask them some questions
about their financial situation and their
particular request for help. It is then reviewed
with two other members on the committee and a
decision is made on their request. If the
decision is to help that individual , we will
send a check to the company to pay a particular
bill. If they need food, we will give them a
food gift card which only allows them to buy
food and if they don’t use the entire amount on
the gift card, they will be charged for the
amount they use, leaving a balance on the gift
card for future purchases. Under no circumstance
do we give them money. Sometimes, we have a
situation where it is questionable on whether or
not to help a resident, my response is to help
that resident because I would rather help that
person and let the burden of proof be on their
shoulders than ours because we are not here to
judge people, we are here to help them. The
Pelham Good Neighbor Fund committee is made up
of sixteen people who are dedicated and
committed to helping our less fortunate
residents in Pelham and we have received over
the years, your overwhelming support in the work
that we do and we will continue our mission
because it is important to us and the community.
Frank Sullivan
President |
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