Be the light of these dark holidays–April 10, 2020

Apr 10, 2020

Be the light of these dark holidays

For many, this Holy season will be remembered as the only time in our lifetime when houses of worship were closed to congregants and the observances of the holidays were shared through video conferencing.

It will also be remembered as one of the darkest holidays in our lifetimes as the global number of lives lost breaks 100,000 and the deadly toll in the U.S. surges ever closer to 10,000.

However grim this tally is, however much this pandemic hurts and haunts us, we all see resiliency, abroad and at home. Just as our Spring Holidays call us to celebrate birth and rebirth, this tragedy has spawned a renewed a sense of partnership, connection, and support among an impressive array of organizations and individuals rapidly trying to meet the needs of families and children.

Last week, we asked you to help us translate vital important information so that our immigrant neighbors, for whom English is not their first language, could access basic health services for their children and other COVID-related supports that most of us take for granted. The outpouring of individual responses broke PCCY records, spurring us to find any way to cover those costs. The first wave of translated materials is available HERE.

Of course, it’s not just these translations. The generosity of PCCY supporters continues to inspire us in our work throughout the region, propelling us forward.”

Our partner at the United Way of Bucks County needed help moving diapers to food pantry locations across the county and PCCY was there to deliver thousands of donated diapers to struggling parents and their babies.

Our partners at the Foundation for Delaware County kept their WIC office open and remained busy, but they knew that other WIC offices that were just as ready to meet the needs of young mothers were less prepared to promote their services. We turned on our social media prowess and activated our network to spread the word.

Our partners, child care providers across the region were sent into a tailspin as they complied with statewide orders to close but without any idea of when they would reopen, let alone how they would afford to do so. We created an emergency technical assistance clinic offering well over a hundred child care providers one-to-one expert advice so they could tap into the federal COVID emergency funds supporting small businesses.

We are just one of the places where child-serving organizations, families, and children can turn to find love and support. The generosity of the William Penn, Wells Fargo Foundation, and Vanguard Corporation makes so much of this work possible while the support and encouragement of individuals lightens the load and fuels our drive to help.

We see this revival of generosity all around us, as artists freely share their talents to inspire us, as health care workers not only care for the sick but find time to dance and sing and keep each other and all of us hopeful. Just as the Governor of California sends respirators to New York and New Jersey, we see neighbors make masks for each other while others dig out stashes of personal protective equipment, or PPE, and deliver it to hospital doors.

This holiday weekend, amongst prayers to stem the devastation of this global pandemic, we ask that the generosity of those able to give be answered with many blessings, so that they continue to offer their neighbors the help they need during this desperate time. When this crisis is over, we’ll surely see it was their generosity that made the difference between success and failure.

ONE MORE WEEK!

All online donations received over the next week will be earmarked for translation services.

EVERY DOLLAR HELPS!

DONATE SO WE CAN TRANSLATE

“Many people who are dying, both here and around the world, were on their last legs anyway.” Bill O’Reilly, disgraced conservative commentator, dismissing concerns over the staggering COVID-19 death toll.

With so many suddenly out of work, PCCY’s Child Healthline has never been so necessary.

Don’t miss this story in the Inquirer about how parents can get help with CHIP and Medicaid.

Please RETWEET

“When we get all of that back, we will stop and remember the sacrifice, the loss, the pain of this time. We will realize that the silence which now pervades the streets of Philadelphia was not, by any means, a sign of defeat. Rather, it was the abundant evidence of our resilience.” Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney