Dave Feely knows something about receiving a special gift.
The retired Bradford City Police officer, who went through successful heart transplant surgery in July, was the featured speaker Wednesday morning at the annual kickoff breakfast of The Era’s Less Fortunate Fund. He told the crowd gathered in the meeting hall of the First Presbyterian Church that their common bond “is the spirit of giving” and he pointed out that gifts great or small can have a positive effect on someone’s life.
“All of you are here because of the spirit of giving and the gratitude of people receiving gifts,” Feely said, emotion sometimes choking his voice.
He spoke of a diagnosis that, without a heart transplant, gave him only months to live. He checked into a Pittsburgh hospital and waited — until eventually he received word from a case worker that a heart was available. That gift allowed Feely to respond well to the surgery and walk out of UPMC Allegheny General Hospital after 12 days.
The efforts of people behind The ELF Fund and other charities that help make a difference in people’s lives were the theme Feely was focusing on in addressing the program’s board members, volunteers and contributors. The ELF Fund is in its 39th year of providing gifts and support to eligible families with children and to senior citizens in the Christmas season.
“That is your mission,” Feely said. “To give and to make people’s lives — the kids and the seniors — just a little better. Projects like this can turn into a lot of work but you ‘suck it up’ and get it done because you care. … Maybe it’s not as big as a heart, but to a child or a forgotten senior your efforts are just as important.”
Ed Hayden, president of The ELF Fund board, noted to the gathering that, as of early Wednesday, 125 families with children and 53 individual senior citizens had signed up for the gift program. The ELF Fund will provide between 600 and 700 total gifts in 2022, he noted.
“I want to point out that most of our families with children who have signed up are working families … they just need that little extra boost this year,” Hayden said, while acknowledging several donations received from individuals and businesses.
Meanwhile, the online application process remains open through Sunday. Go to https://apply.elffund.org to complete an application. Family applicants must have a valid email address to apply.
On Friday, volunteers will be at the Bradford Area Public Library 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. for a final in-person signup session for both families and seniors.
Hayden, who acknowledged attendees from FCI-McKean and Futures Rehabilitation Center in the crowd, thanked the Kennedy Street Cafe for catering the breakfast while also thanking the Bradford Area Public Library and the Senior Center for providing space for signup sessions. He also asked for a moment of silence for the late H.L. “Woody” Woodruff, the former general manager of The Era and one of the founders of The ELF Fund in 1983. Woodruff passed away in February 2021.
Rhonda Gray, an ELF Fund board member and chair of the Festival of Trees Auction Committee, which organizes the gift program’s largest fundraiser of the year, noted that the 21st annual auction is set for 6 p.m. Nov. 17 at the Bradford Club.
The theme this year is “A Winter’s Tale,” Gray said, noting that organizers want to channel the wonder and magic of the season.
Some trees decorated for the annual Tree Challenge will be on display in the front window of Main Street Mercantile for a few days leading up to Nov. 17. Gray urged anyone who wants to provide a tree for the Tree Challenge to contact her through The ELF Fund-Festival of Trees Facebook page, which shows some of the items that are up for auction, including a collectible Zippo lighter donated by the Blaisdell Foundation.
Board member Lori Peace also talked about a relatively new feature of The ELF Fund efforts — the Unaccompanied Minor Program, which works more behind the scenes to support juveniles in Bradford and McKean County who are without parents, perhaps staying with relatives or friends, who don’t have an active guardian.
“We decided to try and help assist these kids in our community, maybe providing them with a little something extra in their pockets to go with their friends to McDonald’s or Dunkin,” she said.
