The Pelham Good Neighbor Fund Committee has just completed 45 years of helping our Neighbors In Need. The committee had a another busy and challenging year in 2014 but we were able to take care of 45 residents in Pelham throughout the year for their household expenses including rent, heat, electricity and food amounting to $51,251 which is 13% higher than the previous year and the highest amount we have ever spent in providing financial assistance to our less fortunate residents in Pelham. During the Christmas season, we coordinated our 25th Annual Sponsor-A-Child Program where residents in town purchase gifts for the children. We were able to provided toys, clothing and food to 26 families including 47 children. The Salem Elks provided food for 10 families in Pelham and we thank them for their support. During the year, we awarded one scholarship to a high school senior who had a financial need and had been accepted to a college and over the past fifteen years, 19 scholarships have been awarded amounting to $45,500. We established and coordinated the donations for the George Desmarais Fund Drive which amounted to $13,170. We did a presentation at the Pelham Senior Center to discuss with them what we do and how a member can get in touch with us if he or she needs our financial assistance. Our fundraisers included the 21st Annual Golf Tournament and the 45th Annual Christmas Drive. We also received donations throughout the year from individuals, families, churches, schools, organizations and the business community. These donations and our fundraisers have made it possible for us to provide financial assistance to our Pelham residents throughout the year for household expenses. We would like to thank the various organizations who helped collect food and cash donations at the Pelham Plaza which included: The American Legion Post 100, The John Hargreaves Memorial Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 10722, St. Patrick Knights of Columbus Council 6902, the Pelham Firefighters Association and the Cub Scouts Pack 25. We would also like to thank the employee at Wakefield Thermal Solutions for their generous donation of food and to the management at Hannaford for their support and cooperation in helping to make our Annual Christmas Drive a huge success, and to all the sponsors who brought the true meaning of Christmas to our Neighbors In Need. A special thank you to Karen Genoter who does an excellent job of taking care of our website and makes all the changes that we request throughout the year and to Steve Ziokas who takes care of our annual state and federal tax returns for many years. I would like to share with you a card that we received along with a substantial donation from a woman who we have helped in the past. She wanted us to use her donation to help a family who was in need of assistance. She went on to say that without organizations like the Pelham Good Neighbor Fund who helped her and the family get through a difficult financial situation and with their hard work and the Grace of God, the family is doing much better. The Pelham Good Neighbor Fund Committee is made up of sixteen volunteers who are dedicated and committed to helping our less fortunate residents in Pelham and your donations have allowed us to reach out to touch someone to let them know that we care. The committee would like to thank you for your support and we look forward to being of service to the community in the year 2015.

Frank Sullivan
President