Make an Old Newsboy's day

12/6/2001

Making every dollar count is prudent financial planning anytime but never more so than during a recession. When tight budgets include charitable giving, contributors want to know their money is being used effectively to benefit the needy, not paper-pushers behind a desk. The Old Newsboys Goodfellow Association is one local charity that guarantees a good return on charitable investments.

It is Toledo's only 100 percent charity, which means for every dollar collected, a poor child in the community gets a full dollar's worth of food, clothing, or medical care. The Old Newsboys is not a social welfare agency with offices and administrative staff. The association has no overhead. No administrative expenses. Nobody gets paid.

The Old Newsboys survives through dedicated volunteers from every walk of life who raise money the old-fashioned way to make its mission possible. For 72 years countless northwest Ohio men and women have braved the wind and cold to hawk their annual charity newspaper from banks, stores, malls, factories, and schools. They don't risk life and limb anymore in the middle of dangerous intersections, but go wherever generous Toledoans can be found to support a cause close to home.

Besides providing immediate financial assistance to those who need it, the money raised last year through newspaper sales bought Christmas food baskets for nearly 1,000 Toledo area families, allowed eight $5,000 scholarships to be awarded to high school seniors to afford college, and funded drug awareness programs.

Money generated from the community for the community makes the Old Newsboys unique in its singular goal to help local kids and families without delay or bureaucratic red tape. This year alone the association has spent $124,000 to provide shoes and coats to over 3,000 area school children from more than 59 schools.

If you're weathering the recession with warm clothes, plenty of food, and a roof over your head this holiday season, remember the less fortunate in your midst struggling to make ends meet.

Contribute whatever you can to the hardy Old Newsies selling their papers tomorrow. They hope to raise $225,000 to lift the burden of needy residents now and throughout the year. Dollar by dollar, it's the best community-wide gift money can buy.