Church helper helped by Good Fellow/Argus Santa

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Church helper helped by Good Fellow/Argus Santa

Posted Online: Dec. 01, 2012, 6:22 pm

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By Leon Lagerstam, llagerstam@qconline.com

ROCK ISLAND -- Who helps the helpers? The Dispatch Good Fellow and The Rock Island Argus Santa Fund does.

Cali Smith, 36, of Rock Island, can be found most often at Broadway Presbyterian Church helping anyone who wants or needs it, according to church member Brian McMaster, who nominated Ms. Smith and her family for some special help through the annual holiday campaign.

"She's really involved in worship, our after-school program and so many other things at church. I'd say it was that level of participation that drew me to nominate her, thinking it would, in some small way, compensate her for all she does, while getting far less recognition than what she deserves.''

It's been an "awful" past year and a half, Ms. Smith said. ''So many things have gone wrong, my mind's almost blank after everything that's happened.''

She, her husband, Matt Smith, a Desert Shield/Desert Storm veteran, and their two children, Xavier 7, and Lillian, 2, live in a triplex they own. In August, a tenant in the middle section of the building moved out without paying rent.

''Since then, the power's been turned off, the water's been turned off, and we've been dealing with foreclosure since we can't pay the mortgage without that rent payment," she said.

The furnace broke down, and a major pipe break flooded the basement, as their list of headaches continued, Ms. Smith said.

''And every time I walked outside, it seemed like my car had a flat tire," she said. ''And my husband's car also kept having flat tires."

Her daughter added to the frustration after she put a clothes pin with a metal spring in the microwave, causing it to short-circuit and break down, Ms. Smith said.

After learning of her family's problems, Mr. McMaster knew they could use some help and turned to the Good Fellow and Argus Santa Fund.

''It's such a great program,'' he said. ''It certainly helps a lot of deserving people."

''It actually means quite a bit to us," Ms. Smith said.

''And I was so delighted they were selected,'' Mr. McMaster said. ''It was wonderful.''

The holiday campaign helped make some needed car repairs, including a new tire, replacing two axles and repairing the power-steering system, Ms. Smith said.

For 105 years, The Dispatch Good Fellow and The Rock Island Argus Santa Fund has helped make the holidays brighter for people such as the Smith family, but the holiday-campaign helpers need your help.

This year's goal is $40,000. To date, $5,720 has been raised, leaving $34,280 to go.

Donations from area residents, businesses and civic groups are sought to help provide holiday gift cards for families to buy food, clothing and other necessities, as well as toys for children who might otherwise get nothing for Christmas.

Last year the fund helped 360 families with 909 children, plus another 260 low-income seniors and disabled people.

There are four easy ways to donate:
-- Make a secure donation online at QCOnline.com/goodfellow.
-- Send a check to Good Fellow, c/o Dispatch/Argus, 1720 5th Ave., Moline, IL 61265.
-- Use the drop box in the Dispatch/Argus lobby, 1720 5th Ave, Moline.
-- Use the drive-through window at the circulation office at the corner of 6th Avenue and 18th Street in downtown Moline.

In addition to selecting families for special holiday help, the newspapers rely on 12 area agencies to help identify people most in need and assist with distributing the gift certificates.

The agencies are Aldridge Early Learning Center, Bethany for Children & Families, Child Abuse Council, Boys & Girls Club of the Mississippi Valley, Just Kids Early Care & Education, Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center, Project NOW, Skip-a-Long Child Development, InTouch Adult Day Services, Rock Island County Senior Center, Illinois Division of Rehabilitation and ARC of the Quad-Cities Area.

Donations are only used for special holiday assistance, and not for everyday agency programs.

The newspapers' promotion department coordinates the program. Administrative costs are paid by The Moline Dispatch Publishing Co.

The Argus Santa Holiday Fund was established in 1908, followed by the Dispatch Good Fellow in 1912. The programs merged in 1987 when The Dispatch bought The Rock Island Argus. The fund is recognized as a 501 (c) (3) charitable corporation by the IRS.

Contributors' names are published in weekly updates in The Dispatch and The Rock Island Argus. Recent contributors are:

In memory of our parents, from Pauline and Wilfred Hefter, $100
Anonymous, $50
Karna and Vernon Hollatz, $200
Greg and Susan Wolf, $100
Circle King Daughters Isabelle Charles Davis, $50
Anonymous, $500
In memory of the DeBacker family, from Diane and Jim Champion, $100
In memory of our deceased parents, from Jan and Dan Wessel, $105
Anonymous, $500
Charles and Shirley Luebke, $100
In loving memory of Grandma Pauline Hall, from Russ and DeeAnn DeWinter, $100
Frances L. Morrissey, $100
Barry and Nemesia Johnson, $25
NARFE Blackhawk Chapter No. 338, $50
In remembrance of Lawrence and Nellie Liphardt, from Bernice Stropes, $25
Terry and Cynthia Francis, $25
Patricia McCormack, $100
In memory of our grandfather, Stan Barker and Aunt Sue, from Jim, Katie, and Emily, $100
In loving memory of Jack and Shirley Cook, from their daughter, Donna, $100
Michael Healless, $100
Brad and Julie Boyle, $100
In loving memory of Duane VanLandegen, from David, Cindy, Luke, and Sarah, $25
Bette and Marvin Salmonson, $50
Kenny and Sandy Overton, $50
Jimmy Moffitt, $50
Larry and Dorothy Morrison, $50
Mary Jo Wilson, $50
Ron and Brenda Boersen, $25
In memory of Ed and Emily Schmidt, Otto Schmidt, Marie and Dewey Fleming, and Joe McMahon, from Marvin Strum, $50
In memory of Robert E. Anderson, $25
Anonymous, $50
In memory of Don, David, and Johnny, from Teresa Huntley, $25
Jack Tumbleson, $20
In memory of Brent Anderson, love Grandma Sandy, $30
From B and B, $25
In memory of Fred and Kay, $100
In memory of Beulah Mae and Ed, $100

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CO-OP RECORDS MOL

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Today is Monday, May 20, the 140th day of 2013. There are 225 days left in the year.
1863 -- 150 years ago: A petition is being circulated asking the city council to order awell bored in Market Square. It would be a great accommodation to the public.
1888 -- 125 years ago: At 1 p.m. on May 18 the Mississippi River flooded its banks atRock Island and destroyed the warehouse of the Rock Island Lumber Co. and damagedRock Island Arsenal power plant. Total loss is estimated at $100,000.
1913 -- 100 years ago: Residents of Sough Rock Island Township are circulating apetition favoring the annexation of that area to the City of Rock Island.
1938 -- 75 years ago: A group of state members of the National Grandmothers Clubmeeting in Rock Island are making plans to petition for the observance of a NationalGrandmothers Day.
1963 -- 50 years ago: Deere and Co. reported today that its U.S. and Canadian sales forthe first half of the 1963 fiscal year set an all time record of $323,716.628.
1988 -- 25 years ago: William G. Lawrence, first administrative director, has retired fromPECO Enterprises, Inc. Prior to his service at PECO, Mr. Lawrence was the civilianpersonnel officer at the Rock Island Arsenal.

(More History)