A caring hand helps make Princeton Holiday Fund a success

Charity achieves fund-raising goal.

   One of the benefits of living in Princeton is the dedication of its many volunteers who enrich community resources.
   The Princeton Holiday Fund has a volunteer who contributes her time, her concern for people’s well-being and her knowledge of the community.
   For the past eight years, Mary Pickens has been helping Family and Children’s Services work with those requesting financial assistance. She talks with them about their apprehensions, suggests possible solutions for their problems and advocates for them. Ms. Pickens determines the level of assistance families or individuals need to alleviate their emergency situation. If the fund can’t provide the full amount of financial help, she contacts other sources for help.
   This week, Ms. Pickens talked with a family whose young son had sustained a serious injury as the result of a car accident. Most of the medical bills are being covered by insurance and the prognosis is good. The parents, naturally, want to be with their son as much as possible while he is recovering.
   The Holiday Fund purchased bus passes for the mother and father so they could travel to New Brunswick as often as possible to visit and encourage the boy, and to meet with his doctors. Ms. Pickens encouraged them to stay in touch with her and let her know if she could help in any other way such as providing food certificates.
   Many people continue to drop in to Family and Children’s Services after the financial crisis is over. They appreciate the support and caring of the staff at the agency and especially Ms. Pickens’ help.
   A young Hispanic woman came to ask for help with books and training materials for her college courses. Her parents had worked hard to save enough to pay the tuition, but they hadn’t realized the other costs would be so high. The girl is also working, but her savings weren’t enough for this expense. The fund paid for the books and offered to help next semester, too, if she can maintain her grade-point average. One day she hopes to become a teacher so she can help others learn how education can improve their lives.
   The Princeton Holiday Fund, thanks to its many generous contributors this year, exceeded its goal of $10,000 by $1,092. This will be enough to help 27 families with utility bills, schoolbooks, summer camp, food and more. Every additional dollar contributed will provide help for more families and individuals.
   Each person who asks for emergency financial assistance has a unique story. Each request deserves the time and concern that Mary Pickens gives to it. The generous donation of her time means the money raised for The Princeton Holiday Fund goes directly to help families with financial crises.
   There is still time to send contributions to The Princeton Holiday Fund, c/o Family and Children’s Services, 120 John St., Suite 6, Princeton, NJ 08542. For more information, contact Mimi Ballard at (609) 924-2098.