Carol

('65) and    Paul (Bardolph HS, IL - '61).

 

Joe Wingo ('65 - of NC),  

   

Many of you responded with words of encouragement, prayers, and generosity in the form of contributions sent either to Carol directly, or through the Pay Pal method that I mentioned in my global emails to you. Your kindness and generosity have done miracles to resolve Carol’s immediate financial crisis and restore her piece of mind, and she will be forever grateful to all of you. But what we have witnessed and treated are only the symptoms of a much greater and long-term lingering problem that is sure to only surface again without our continued support until the causes of her situation can be cured.

Carol, our beloved newsletter creator, has been a stay-at-home mom all her life, raising seven children over her married life and launching them with much love and caring into adulthood. Accordingly, she has always depended on Paul as the bread winner and provider, which he has steadfastly been up until 10 months ago when he lost his job due to a corporate merger/buy-out where he and numerous others were displaced by newcomers within the “new” company. Living in Fayetteville, NC and being 63 years old, Paul has painfully discovered that re-employment opportunities are very limited. If you have had the misfortune to encounter this, you are well aware that age discrimination is alive and well. With pride, Paul prefers to work rather than take early retirement to collect (and lose significant benefits) social security. Please note that we now have his resume posted on the newsletter for maximum distribution and coverage. Paul turns 64 in August and would prefer working and then collecting maximum social security benefits at age 65. Yes, there are local, state, and federal programs to assist under certain situations, but the qualifications and time it takes for bureaucracy to get the help needed will extend far beyond when the next crisis occurs. After all, bills never stop, hunger comes quickly, and health problems happen when you least expect them. By the way, both Carol and Paul have hypertension, and Paul also has diabetes, and they require medication which is not covered by being unemployed.

So, to cut to the chase, we feel that what Carol really needs is an extended period (one year to be safe) of REAL security upon which to re-gather their capability to become self-sufficient. We are therefore challenging you, as Carol’s friends and newsletter subscribers, to make a commitment to join us in this well-deserving cause by contributing to a long-term recovery relief fund. We have calculated, based on Carol’s budget (published recently in one of her newsletters) that with 100 of us contributing either a one-time donation of $180 or a commitment of only $15 a month (for 12 months), we can achieve this one year of support. This comes out to $1500 per month. Of course, if we have a commitment of greater than 100 contributors, each individual contributor's share may be less. And I hate to state the obvious, but for individuals choosing the $15 a month route, we must be able to count on your commitment to the full twelve months.

In making your decision to participate in this worthy cause, please consider the fun and joy that we all receive from each of Carol’s newsletters, her positive and caring attitude toward each and every one of us, and the loss we would feel not only in losing the newsletter, but in ignoring this simple gesture of kindness towards someone so dear. If we can count on you, please contact either of us at the following email addresses. We will make arrangements for your contribution and compile the list, posting it daily in the newsletter so that we can all track our progress toward this worthy goal.