Published in the December 31, 2015 edition

By BOB TUROSZ

NORTH READING – Well done, North Reading.

The holiday mail brought another $4,000 in donations to the Transcript’s Neighbor Helping Neighbor Fund, raising to over $31,000 the amount to be distributed by the North Reading Christian Community Service, the volunteer organization that operates the town’s Food Pantry.

There have been over 100 separate donations to the Fund drive this year. This week’s donations include, among other generous gifts, $1,000 from Dental Health Concepts, $500 from Paul and Marci Bailey, $300 in memory of Al and Frances Sylvia, founders of the Neighbor Fund, and $200 from Michelle and Fred Driscoll. But all donations to the fund are equally honored with gratitude by the CCS and those who will directly benefit, needy residents of North Reading.

The CCS is a non-denominational, non-profit organization run by volunteers representing every church in North Reading. Donations are tax deductible and a tax receipt will be furnished to anyone who requests one. Receipts are automatically mailed for donations of $250 or more.

The Neighbor Fund will remain open until the end of the year. All donations will be acknowledged in the Transcript. Donations may be mailed to the Transcript at P.O. Box 7, North Reading MA 01864. For those who prefer to drop off a donation in person, donations may be left at the Reading Co-operative Bank, 170 Park St.

Checks should be made payable to the Christian Community Service, or “CCS,” not the newspaper.

Help make the 2015 Neighbor Fund Drive the most successful ever.

• Jon Bernard………………………………………………………….$100

• Jamal & Dalal Hamdar……………………………………………..$100

• Happy DiFranza…………………………………………………….$100

• Edward & Susan Dolan……………………………………………$100

• Dental Health Concepts…………………………………………$1,000

• In memory of Kathy Winters………………………………………$100

• Joan & Dan O’Donnell………………………………………………$50

• Michelle & Fred Driscoll…………………………………………..$200

• Paul & Marci Bailey………………………………………………..$500

• Brad & Carolyn Fortin…………………………………………….$100

• Theresa & Nicholas Vontzalides………………………………..$100

• In memory of Virginia & Trank Chiovoloni…………………….$150

• Dolores & Joseph Meli……………………………………………..$50

• Anonymous…………………………………………………………$100

• Merry Christmas……………………………………………………$30

• Bob & Judy Snyder………………………………………………..$150

• Mario & Eleanor Miani…………………………………………..…$50

• In memory of our parents, Phil & Diane Norris………………..$100

• In memory of Barbara Kinnie……………………………………$100

• Emma’s Classic Cuts……………………………………………..$100

• In memory of Al & Frances Sylvia………………………………$300

• Robert & Angela Mauceri…………………………………………$100

• Bill & Sheila Berry………………………………………………….$100

• In loving memory of Gene Barrasso……………………………$100

• In memory of Donn Hill…………………………………………..…$50

• Angel Road, A Christmas Breather”………………………………….$184

Jay & Lauren McMullen………………………………………………………..$75

In memory of Ginny MacMillan……………………………………………$200

Sheila & Jack Romo…………………………………………………………….$50

Charles & Barbara Webb, in memory of loved ones……………..$25

TOTAL THIS WEEK ………………………………………………$4,464

PREVIOUSLY ACKNOWLEDGED……………………….……$27,205

TOTAL as of Dec. 29……………………………………………$31,669