Donation from estate gives fund a head start

The Spokesman-Review Christmas Fund opened Friday, and as usual, the charity got a jump-start toward the $495,000 goal thanks to a few donations sent throughout the year.

The single-largest donation ever given to the decades-old fund was sent early this fall when the estate of Sherryl Leslie was settled. The trustee of Leslie’s estate mailed two checks totaling $49,453 to the Christmas Fund with no explanation beyond the provisions in her will that the fund be one of her beneficiaries.

The Christmas Fund pays for the fixings of Christmas that are given to thousands of poor families who come each December to the Christmas Bureau for help with their holiday celebrations. The fund depends completely on the generosity of the community, and seldom do donors explain their motivation for giving beyond their concern for the area’s most needy people.

Many donors write a note saying their gift to the fund is a part of their holiday ritual. The newspaper keeps no records of donations beyond the names that are published in daily stories.

A search of those stories showed that Leslie previously donated once, $100 in 2000 in memory of her father.

Gail and Maurine Kalk, friends of Leslie, were not surprised when they learned of her generosity to the Christmas Fund.

“She was a wonderful and generous person, and her gift is not inconsistent with the way she lived,” Gail Kalk said. “She was interested in people and in helping people. She was fond of children.”

Leslie was born in 1950 in Hawaii and moved to Spokane about 25 years ago, Kalk said. “She had some means and so she traveled. And she loved the arts, especially music,” he said. And she had a good sense of humor. “I called her Big Red because she had very red hair,” Kalk added.

She died in February from a rare disease, he said.

Her donation will provide toys for about 4,000 poor children this Christmas through the Christmas Bureau.

While Leslie’s generosity boosts the Christmas Fund toward its goal, much more is needed if the charity’s bills are to be paid at year’s end. Donations of all amounts are welcome.

The fund represents the community’s holiday gift to its needy. The names of the donors and the amount of their donations will continue to be reported in daily stories in the newspaper through Christmas Day.