Picture of the Back-to-School Blast from the Troy-Somerset Gazette

You can view or download the entire article here: August 24, 2009, Troy-Somerset Gazette

January 11, 2009
Group offers helps without public funding

By Steve Kowalski
ECCENTRIC STAFF WRITER

Money doesn’t fall from trees, the old saying goes, but a Troy charity may have been the recipient of nearly $12,000 for picking up leaves some years ago at an elderly resident’s home.

When Bernice Fura passed away July 12, 2004, she remembered Troy People Concerned in her will, according to Ryan Deel, a board member for the Troy charity.

“At one of the meetings one of the board directors indicated we had done leaf raking for (Fura) in the past,” Deel said. “We routinely do leaf raking for seniors in the fall.”

The check arrived in August and it couldn’t have been better timing, Deel said, with donations down as the stock market crashed and unemployment rates climbed.

“This money means a lot to Troy People Concerned,” Deel said. “When you figure the average cost is between $200 and $300 to get the gas and electric turned on, that $12,000 goes a long way to help a lot of people.”

The unexpected contribution from Fura’s estate raised contributions to $59,000 for the fiscal year, beginning Sept. 1, 2008, according to Treasurer Frank Howrylak.

The primary purpose of Troy People Concerned is to provide needy families with assistance to pay utility bills, according to Howrylak.

Eligible families may receive a one-time payment to cover a monthly bill, Howrylak said.

The charity also buys backpacks and supplies for approximately 100 students at the start of each school year, and gift baskets at Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter, he said.

A spaghetti dinner each March gives fund-raising efforts a kick-start each year, he added.

“If you’ve got a nice pension and some savings, you don’t understand how some people live day to day,” Howrylak said. “There are people who can’t make their mortgage payments or gas bill.”

skowalsk@hometownlife.com | (248) 901-2571

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