Goodfellow Fund steps in for family of 6 after dad loses job

Pat moved to Fort Worth from New York in 2022 with big dreams. Her husband had relocated earlier, setting the stage for a better future for their family and three children (at the time, now four).

Then came the bad news. Her husband lost his job in the technical field early this year and has been looking for work ever since.

“It’s constantly tugging in your head, trying to budget for groceries and bills,” Pat said.

The budget remains tight, but one thing they don’t have to worry about is the children having a happy holiday season. The Goodfellow Fund, the Star-Telegram charity that has been helping for more than a century, is once again this year giving away $100 gift cards to children from families in need.

“I thought it was a joke at first,” Pat said upon hearing about the Goodfellow Fund. “But it was a real blessing, very helpful. My kiddos were so happy when I gave it to them.

“The action is in the name — Goodfellows.”

About the Goodfellow Fund

The story on the Goodfellow website describes its beginning as an offshoot of the first newspaper charity drive in the United States, started by the Chicago Tribune on Dec. 10, 1909. A Chicago city attorney wrote a letter challenging his friends to donate the money they would have spent on holiday partying to charity.

A couple of years later, the Advertising Club of Fort Worth staged the first local Goodfellow campaign. On the day after Thanksgiving in 1912, Publisher Amon G. Carter brought the tradition to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

To donate online and find out more, visit goodfellowfundfw.com/donate. To donate with a check, send checks made out to the Goodfellow Fund to P.O. Box 149, Fort Worth, TX, 76101.