Peninsula: E-mail spurs Christmas donations

December 28, 2001

An e-mail or two helped save Christmas this year for hundreds of foster children on the North Olympic Peninsula.

Thanks to contributions from residents of Clallam and Jefferson counties, about 400 children cared for through the state Department of Social and Health Services had gifts under Christmas trees at their temporary homes Tuesday.

With Western Washington and the country feeling an economic crunch since Sept. 11, Social and Health Services in Port Angeles fell short in gift sponsorship for area children in foster care, social workers said.

After Seattle's Newsradio KIRO 710 held a week-long telethon to raise sponsorship for its annual Holiday Magic gift-giving program, Port Angeles social worker Larry Hayden contacted a few key people to ``fill the gap'' in gifts.

The rest of this story appears in today's Peninsula Daily News Clallam County edition. Click on ``Subscribe'' to get the PDN delivered to your home or office.