After health setbacks, woman turns to Goodfellows for the 5 children in her care

Emily is a caring person, as evidenced by the fact that she cares for five children, two of her own and three grandchildren she took in from the foster care system.

Now Emily needs someone to care for her — or more specifically, the five children he loves so dearly.

Only in her early 40s, she was recently diagnosed with leukemia. In addition, she has rheumatoid arthritis.

“It’s a struggle but we’re all we got,” she said.

The children in her household range in age from 4 to 14, all girls. Despite the daily struggles, she’d love to give them something to brighten their holiday.

And that’s where the Goodfellow Fund comes in. They bring joy to children from families in need and have been doing so for well over a century.

This year the Star-Telegram charity has a goal of helping 13,000 children like Emily’s in Tarrant County have a nicer Christmas. They are providing a $50 tax-free gift certificate for each child for new clothing from Old Navy.

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 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 find out more, or to learn more about helping, visit goodfellowfundfw.com. The post office box for donations and correspondence is P.O. Box 149, Fort Worth, TX. 76101.