Woodyard Fund helps disabled senior
If Bessie Robinson could tell others who suddenly find themselves in a position of needing financial assistance one thing it would be this: Don’t give up.
Her second bit of advice would be to contact the Salvation Army’s Woodyard Fund.
“They make you feel like a person,” Robinson said. “When I went in there and met with (case manager) Ethel Moore, I wasn’t feeling good and she talked to me and was so nice. She didn’t look at me like, ‘There’s another person who can’t pay their bills.’ She looked like me like I was a person with a hardship and that she was going to help me.”
The Woodyard Fund helps residents in crisis in Richland, Lexington, Fairfield and Newberry counties pay for utilities. The fund dates to 1816, when the Ladies Benevolent Society provided firewood and coal to families in need. In 1930, The State newspaper’s editor, William E. Gonzales, began publicizing the fund. It became a tradition the newspaper continues every winter.
The fund usually runs from late November through mid-March, when temperatures generally are the coldest.
A disabled senior who lives alone, Robinson found herself in need with her own bills after trying to help her daughter financially.
“When you can’t pay your bills it does something to you,” Robinson said. “It takes you to a different level. Nobody who hasn’t been there knows how that feels.”
But after receiving assistance with her utilities from the Salvation Army, Robinson is feeling much different.
“I can’t tell you what they did for me – it was so much more than paying my bill,” Robinson said. “I would tell others in the same situation, ‘Don't be sad and sitting around feeling sorry for yourself. Don’t give up and don’t be ashamed to ask for help.”
Woodyard Fund
How to give help: Donations can be mailed to the Woodyard Fund, c/o The Salvation Army of the Midlands, P.O. Box 2786, Columbia, SC 29202. Make checks payable to the Woodyard Fund. All donations are tax-deductible.
How to get help: Area residents who need assistance with heating bills can call (803) 462-5093 for more information or to make an appointment for assistance.
Donations to date
Faith Sunday School Class at Riverland Hills Baptist Church, $50; Bernadette Scott, $40; William and Grayson Jackson, $100; Michael L. Hurley, $25; Lutheran Church of the Redeemer, $20; Anonymous, $50; William H. and Cecilia Guza Dillow, $100; Jack Bryan, $200; Annie L. Buggs, $300; Rebecca A. and William Matthew Riley, $50; Anonymous, $30; Fellowship Sunday School Class at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, $100; Robert A. and Irma Lou Slice, $100; Hands For God Sunday School Class at Mt Hebron United Methodist Church, $50; Marvin D. and Christine L. Gunnells, $100; P.N. Poulos, $100; Anonymous, $150; Men of Peterson Presbyterian Church, $150; Theresa M. Quick, $50; Robert DeBerry, $50; The Anderson-Quattlebaum Sunday School Class at N. Trenholm Baptist Church, $50; Carol G. MacNett, $50, in memory of Richard MacNett; Patricia M. and Robert E. Robinson, $100, in memory of Henry Sloan; Claire S. Mayer, $500; Anonymous, $500; S. Valder, $100, in memory of Sue; Robert and Sara Addy, $100; Daniel L. and Cynthia L. Tufford, $150; Herbert B. Niestat MD, $350; Anonymous, $100; Douglas Potter, $220; Agape Ministries of Lower Richland Inc, $100; Charles L. McCallum, $250; Jane Hammond Jervey, $25; Sharon L. and Jerry L. Watson, $500; Sandhills Veterinary Hospital LLC, $200; Becky Falls, $30; Joan L. and Frank D. Marino, $75; William G. Taylor, MD, $850; J. Edwin Davis III and Jane W. Davis, $300; Shandon United Methodist Church, $200; Anonymous, $50, in memory of my parents; Ruth Circle at Ebenezer Lutheran Church, $100; Henri Bishop Sunday School Class, $50, in memory of Bobbi Bouknight and Bill Shealy; Anonymous, $100, in memory of Paul W. Mims; Willing Helpers Club of Second Calvary Baptist Church, $100
Weekly total: $6,965
Total to date: $68,674.87
This story was originally published January 15, 2017 at 1:47 PM with the headline "Woodyard Fund helps disabled senior."