Teens at Kids Kamp 2012 give each other a hand


What does generosity mean?  To some it means the giving of their time, money or possessions to those less fortunate.  But if you are without time, money or possessions, can you still be generous?  

I received a letter from a recipient of one of our Financial Assistance grants who is being treated for cancer.  She had nothing to call her own, but was the most generous person I have ever met.  I’ve posted her letter below as an example of what generosity truly means.

“THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!  Words can’t express how much this assistance means to me.  I’ve been sitting on this email for a few days trying to decide the best way to use this generous grant.  I’ve come up with an idea, but want to run it past you first to see if this is acceptable and within the program guidelines.

Since I’ve been homeless for nearly a year now, I’ve been fortunate enough to have been invited to live with my sister and her husband in their small home.  Although I contribute $40 per month (out of my $200 per month general assistance payment) to help offset some of the additional expenses they’ve had to incur as the result of me living here, I know they are struggling to pay all of their bills. 

Therefore, I was wondering if it would be possible to have the grant money applied to gas and food cards?  If so, I think that 2 gas cards in $100 denominations and 2 food cards in the same denominations ($400 total) would be very helpful in allowing them to catch up on some utility bills by applying the money they ordinarily would have used for gas and groceries towards these debts instead.

If this is ok, I would also like to request that the remaining $200 award balance be put back into the program in order to help another equally-deserving applicant.”

By Jennifer Kielas, program coordinator for Angel Foundation’s Financial Assistance program