Dear Editor,
On Tuesday, April 17th Potowonok Circle of King’s Daughters is teaming up with the Eagle’s Club for a taco and enchilada supper. The proceeds from our portion of the supper will go towards our adopt-a-family program.
King’s Daughters is a non-denominational Christian service organization. Our credo is “lend a hand”. We are actively involved in serving the Fort Madison Community and surrounding areas. We provide vision screenings for area pre-schools, deliver meals on wheels, donate scholarships to assist women attending SCC, support Camp Lookout, and provide monies to many organizations helping people of all ages in our area.
Each year we adopt a family or two. These families have fallen upon hard times and we try to help them through it by providing assistance with utilites, food, gas for their vehicles, gifts at Christmas and other needs that may arise during the year. We often get referrals from counselors at the schools, from attorneys, from churches, and from members. These families are interviewed before receiving help. For example, a two income family with two children needed our help. The father had fallen and had severely injured himself and was unable to work. They were down to only one wage earner. Disability takes quite a long time to get approved. The bills were mounting up. We provided help with utilities, food, and gas cards. At Christmas, we provided gifts for the children and the following summer, we sent the kids to summer camp at Camp Lookout, which is a King’s Daughter’s camp in Montrose. The family was able to recover and get back on their feet financially. We just helped them through a rough time.
The following is a list of some of the things Adopt-A-Family has done:
1. An SCC student needed extensive dental work and braces. We helped with those expenses and helped with textbook aide. We also helped pay for car repair.
2. We helped a SCC student with expenses so that she could attend a national business convention where she won awards.
3. Helped pay an electric bill for a SCC student with a disabled husband and 3 children
4. Paid a gas bill for a woman and her 3 children. The gas was going to be turned off if the bill was not paid.
5. Helped a young Mom with 3 children studying to be a respiratory therapist at SCC
6. Helped a student at ISU who was studying to be a veterinarian assistant
7. Gave gas cards to several different SCC/Western Illinois students
8. Provided Christmas gifts for 2 needy families
9. Provided tires for a SCC student so that she would be safe driving to and from school
10. Provided legal services for several women and families
11. Helped a Mother get her driver’s license. Hired a licensed instructor for her and then drove her to the examining station to take the test.
12. A woman had 3 small children. She was in her early 30’s and she died suddenly of a heart attack. The grandparents would be raising the 3 children. The grandparents had just moved into a home that they were trying to renovate. They had no furnishings for the children. We painted the walls of 3 bedrooms. Bought bedding and curtains and some furniture for them.
13. Furnished gear and clothing for some of the needy children we sent to Camp Lookout.
14. For the needy families with children we provided swim lessons, swim passes, and in some cases family memberships to the pool
OUR GOAL IS TO HELP FACILITATE LONG TERM CHANGES IN THE LIVES AND FUTURES OF THESE FAMILIES.
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT DANA RHEINSCHMIDT (319)750-4577
372-4705 or
CAROLYN SMITH (319)371-8310 or 372-3080
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