Thanks to you, and you, and …

This morning, thanks to you, thousands of kids are getting something for Christmas.

You know who you are. You stepped into the newspaper’s office to deliver your check or your crisp bill. You gave at the office, sacrificing a bit of each paycheck. You played in a band to raise money, you pressed your friends and colleagues and pinochle partners to add their dollars to yours, you organized fundraisers. You were busy and your kids were yelling at each other, and still you dug out your checkbook and found a stamp and mailed in your gift.

You gave because you once received.

You gave in honor of those you love and those you miss.

The Christmas Fund, a campaign to collect donations from newspaper readers, pays the bills at the Christmas Bureau, which gives toys and books and grocery vouchers to families in need throughout Spokane and the surrounding area. This year’s event, which ended Monday, served 35,336 people, including 17,279 children. The goal is to raise $500,000.

This morning’s Christmas Fund tally: $486,963.65. Thanks to you, we’re almost there. Merry Christmas.

New donations

The owners and employees of Huppin’s and OneCall.com, of Spokane, donated $5,500. “This year, we are especially thankful for the support the Spokane community has extended to us as we expanded our company,” President Murray Huppin wrote. “We appreciate the opportunity to participate in brightening the holiday season in our community” through the fund.

Integrated Health Professionals, of Spokane, gave $4,000 “on behalf of our employees and the important work that they do for so many patients and families throughout Eastern Washington.” Added President Michael Glockling: “We admire the important work done by the many volunteers and workers involved with the Christmas Bureau.”

Donors who gave $1,000: Karen Thomas, of Spokane; Paul Reamer Family Dentistry, of Spokane Valley; and NAI Black Realty Management Inc., of Spokane.

Patrick Rusnak gave $970.70 via PayPal.

The employees of the Maintenance, Warehouse, Facility Services and Purchasing departments of Spokane Public Schools donated $584.03. “While we take pride in supporting public education in Spokane on a daily basis, it is with glad hearts that we also support this very worthy and necessary endeavor within our community,” Wayne Bergstresser and George Loos wrote on the employees’ behalf.

Spokane residents who gave $500: the Wagner family; Charm and Frank Stanek; an anonymous couple; the Gilbert family. D.J. Irvin Co. Inc., of Spokane, also gave $500, as did an anonymous donor.

Richard and Connie Stacey gave $400 through the Inland Northwest Community Foundation.

Thomas Hammer Coffee Roasters, of Spokane, gave $376.

Arlene Horton, of Spokane, gave $300 in memory of her husband, C.G. Horton, who annually supported the Christmas Fund, and her mother, Edna Pittman.

Terabyte Triangle, of Spokane, gave $256.83.

C&C Yard Care, of Spokane, donated $250.

Flo Fiveash, of Spokane, gave $200. Lorraine and Donald Burghard, of Moses Lake, gave $200 “in memory of Vicki Burghard, our beloved daughter.” Frank and Noreen Groh, of Odessa, gave $200 in memory of their parents, Frank and Pauline Groh and C. H. and Lydia Scrupps.

The staff of Dr. Paul Reamer gave $150 in memory of Fran Reamer.

An anonymous couple gave $145.35 via PayPal in memory of Dorothy Graham.

An anonymous couple from Spokane gave $135.

Spokane residents who gave $100: Richard and Beth Schomburg; Paula and Michael Durgan; Christopher and Karen Sherfey; Karena and Tay Krull; Erik and Julie Ohlund; James and Colleen Fitzgerald; and John and Marcia Magnuson, in memory of their mother, Bea Kienholz, and father, Dr. R. F. Miller.

An anonymous donor from Spokane gave $100 in honor of the health professionals who’ve helped her lose 119 pounds so far through gastric bypass surgery: “God bless Dr. Mathew Rawlins, Megan, Katherine, Teresa, Dr. Richard Bale, Dr. Mel Lindauer, Stephen Willis, Dr. Carol Wysham and all their support staff.” The donor also thanked her brother Mike “for his unconditional love and support.”

Diane and Ty Wick, of Mead, also gave $100, as did Greg and Lee Linwick, of Veradale.

Becky Woodruff, of Cheney, gave $96.80 via PayPal in memory of her parents, Hank and Dorothy Rittierodt, “who both passed away last year. They often gave anonymously to your fund.”

Jim, Dawn, Cassidy and Ryan Crosswhite, of Spokane, gave $80 in memory of T.J. Crosswhite, who was born on Christmas Day.

Jesse Zumbro, of Adelanto, Calif., gave $60.

Spokane residents who gave $50: Pat Martin; David and Deanna Sommers; an anonymous couple; Donald Gale Jr.; Jim Kershner and family; William and Donna Stewart, “in loving memory of Mr. and Mrs. Albert Lee Olson and their love for Spokane”; Jerry Traynham; and Charlotte Jeltsch. The law office of Drew Bodker, of Spokane, gave $50. Stacy Olson and the 5:30 p.m. spinning class at Oz Fitness in downtown Spokane also gave $50.

Mike and Sheryl Terris gave $30 in honor of their first grandchild, born this year.

An anonymous donor gave $20 in memory of Carol Walter.

An anonymous donor from Spokane gave $10.

Ken Roberts Investment Management, of Spokane, amended a previously recorded $1,000 donation by an additional $9.