Help spread some 'Sunshine'

I get the opportunity almost every day to deliver some pretty grim news. Today is no exception, as a glance at the home page of our Web site will attest.

That is why I am always looking for ways to deliver a more upbeat message.

And today I have exactly that opportunity, thanks to the folks at the Delaware County Community Foundation.

Yesterday afternoon I had a visit here in the office from several Foundation execs, Peg Hendricks, Joe Lastowka Jr. and Helen Davis Picher.

There were here to thank the newspaper for our help in promoting their Delco Sunshine Fund, and also to remind the public that they still need some help.

The Sunshine Fund offers direct grants to people in need. It is a very special program, and certainly in these times the need has never been greater.

The Foundation has stepped up to a challenge offered to them by Doris Buffett, sister of Midwestern billionaire Warren Buffett. The challenge is pretty simple. If the Foundation can raise $50,000 for the Sunshine Fund, Buffett would match it with another $50,000.

That's the good news. But the March 31 deadline is looming, and the Foundation is still $10,000 short of their goal. As it is, even if they don't make their mark, that $40,000 will still go to the Sunshine Fund and people in need. But just think of how much could be done with an additional $60,000.

Buffett decided to use Delco as a test market. It's the only place in the country that got this matching funds offer. She wanted to use a community foundation as a way of testing just how much a community would rally around its neediest citizens.

That's the general idea behind the Delco Sunshine Fund. If they hit the mark, they get another $50,000 in matching funds to the fund, which is used to give grants to citizens who have exhausted all other means of support.

Since its inception two years ago, the DCCF Sunshine Fund has given a total of $140,000 in grants to residents who have hit a streak of bad luck. The one-time financial assistance has enabled 45 families to achieve a long-term solution to their struggle.

Here's how you can help. Send tax-deductible contributions DCCF, 150 Radnor Chester Road, Suite E 140, Radnor, PA 19087. Please make checks payable to DCCF Sunshine Fund.

You also can make donations through the foundation's Web site at www.delcocf.org. The donation should be clearly marked "Sunshine."

The foundation has just 7 more days to hit their goal by March 31.

Let's show Doris Buffett - and the nation - that Delco takes a back seat to no one when it comes to spreading sunshine, and helping our fellow citizens.

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