Money goes further, thanks to good ties
12/15/2007
Messenger-Inquirer
The goal of the Goodfellows Club is to help as many children as possible.
Part of that means eliminating waste and duplication, so agencies within the Goodfellows ring work together and trade information to make sure everyone gets help and there's enough to go around.
"We work together real closely to make sure we're not duplicating," said Renee Ireland, district health coordinator with Daviess County Public Schools, who also works along with the Goodfellows Club to assist students in need. "We want to make sure that everybody's getting served, that the kids who really need are getting served. When you make sure you don't duplicate, you spread your resources farther, and you can serve more kids and families in need."
Gay Lynn Lile, the district nurse with Owensboro Public Schools, said it's part of trying to address such a great need.
"We have so many kids in need of help," Lile said. "We try to make sure everything gets spread around."
The money raised can go to cover clothing, school supplies and even dental work for needy children in the community. Lile and Ireland both have a master list that contains the name of every child that has been helped, along with information about what kind of help they were given and when they were helped. Having that list at hand makes sure that no one slips through the cracks and no one gets too much.
"We have master lists that we
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refer and that we go back and make sure there's no duplication," Ireland said. "It's a good working relationship all of the time. We network real well together and make sure the kids who need help are being helped."
Not only does the communication help the children, but it also strengthens ties within the organization.
"We do communicate, and that has tremendously improved over the years and it works quite well," Lile said. "I think it reflects ... that we care about not only serving as many children as we can.
"It also shows the organizations we work with that we are good stewards of their money. That makes them more comfortable with us. We're not just handing out their money here and there. We know our money is limited.
"We really work diligently and I can't say enough about the people in the resource centers and the resource service centers. It's golden. Call any other community and see how many organizations you have like that available to your schoolchildren. We are a very lucky community and we want people to know we are doing the best we can."
Today's Roll Call, Dec. 15, 2007
Previously reported... $65,641.45
In honor of Texas Gas employees and customers... $1,000
In honor of Sherry Baber by Hager
Preschool staff... $215
In loving memory of Wilfred and Kathryn Moorman Fitts by Elizabeth .M Johnson... $100
In honor of Piny Cochran Smith... $100
In honor of Evelyn H. Laswell... $100
Employees of the Elmer Smith Station of Owensboro Municipal Utilities... $55
In honor of the Daviess County Public School Elementary guidance counselors by Vande Slonecker... $50
In memory of George Fullenwider... $25
In memory of nieces and nephews, David Welch, and James Welch, and Kathryn Worth, and Anna Mahan by Ruby Worth... $20
Total as of Dec. 15, 2007... $67,306.45
