Interfaith Human Services Offers In-Person and Online Options for Annual Wishing Well Campaign

Interfaith Human Services recently announced its annual Wishing Well campaign to aid its work with low-income individuals and families in Centre County. And this year’s campaign sees a bit of a change because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Curt Knouse, executive director of Interfaith Human Services, said in a press release that the only physical well was placed at Meyer Dairy, 2390 S. Atherton St., and is sponsored by First National Bank. The well was redesigned so that people can place cash donations in the bucket and can also scan a code to donate electronically without touching anything.

The second Wishing Well, presented by M&T Bank, is online, and those wishing to support the campaign without leaving their homes can visit www.interfaithhumanservices.org.

“Those two sponsors are a huge help this year,” said Knouse.

“New this year is our matching gift challenge,’ he added. ‘IHS has been challenged with a matching fund of $4,500. This is for all donations made via the virtual well or mailed to IHS.”

Mail donations may be sent to:

IHS
251 Easterly Parkway, Suite 200
State College PA, 16801.

Last year the Wishing Well program raised more than $23,000.

Interfaith Human Services has continued to serve their clients through the pandemic. Some of the ways the nonprofit helps are:

• The Centre County Fuel Bank helps avoid heating emergencies from January through March by providing free heating oil, wood, coal and propane to qualified, low-income Centre County residents. It does not pay all heating costs or pay unpaid bills;

• The Free Furniture and Appliance Recycling Program offers furniture and major appliances at no cost. If your family is in need of items and pre-approved by IHS, call (814) 234-7731 to schedule an appointment to select items from their inventory;

• The Financial Care Program at Interfaith Human Services helps families achieve and maintain financial stability. It consists of two parts: Money Management and Representative Payee. The Basic Needs Financial Assistance Program provides help in the face of a financial crisis due to an unexpected or unavoidable circumstance.

For more information about the above programs, go to IHS’s website. To contact Knouse, call (814) 234-7731 or message him at [email protected].