Dad struggling with health issues asks Goodfellows to help his 2 children
As an over the road driver Cleveland missed some precious time with his two young children. Then, in 2022 he lost his wife and they lost their mother to COVID.
He left his career as a truck driver to help their grandmother in raising his children now ages 9 and 7. While his relationship with them has grown stronger, so have the challenges.
Their grandmother died in 2023. His adjustment to different work has not been an easy one, and now Cleveland himself is battling health issues.
“I have always tried to keep a job, but here lately I’ve been having trouble with my health and my kids are the best,” he said. “They don’t ask for much because they see how hard it is.”
The Goodfellow Fund understands and is there to help bring some smiles to their faces this holiday season. The Star-Telegram charity has been doing so for more than a century.
This year their assistance is doubled to help offset the increased cost of goods. They are giving away a $100 gift card to Old Navy stores for clothing for children, twice the amount of gift cards in the past.
“If you could help me make at least this Christmas a good one for them ...” Cleveland said.
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.
New and additional donors are welcome and needed to help cover the cost of doubling the gift card amount.
New and additional donors are welcome and needed to help cover the cost of doubling the gift card amount.
This story was originally published December 13, 2024 at 5:50 AM.