Ashland Emergency Fund

Quietly providing hope to those in need.

We make a living by what we get; we make a life by what we give.

---Sir Winston Churchill

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AEF News 2005 April

Ashland Emergency Fund Proceeds Crash

2004 has proved to be a “turning point” year for the Ashland Emergency Fund (AEF) but it wasn't a good turning point because the “turn” taken was downward. Until last year, the AEF was able to continually increase its giving to Ashland residents in need. Last year – 2004 – for the first time, income to the Fund was far less than giving-expenses incurred by the fund.

The real difficulty is that this does not seem to be a single event but looks like a long-term problem for the Fund.

The Fund’s largest source of revenue was the Friday Night AEF/Campership Bingo. The bingo was strong and we believed that it was on its way in 2004 to earning more than $115,000 for the two charities. Then disaster, in the form of the No-Smoking Law, struck. Attendance at the bingo crashed and along with it income crashed too.

It is difficult to fault the No-Smoking Law, which is intended to preserve the health of the public. More to the point, though, this law will not be changed anytime soon. And that means that smokers will not be returning to the bingo and the monies earned will be staying at low levels.

The AEF Board is looking for ways to recover the lost income and continue the Fund’s operation at the levels that we reached three years ago.

Contact us if you have an idea that will work for the AEF, or if you can lend a hand as a volunteer, or perhaps you can make a donation to boost our ability to respond to needs.

Current Status

This year, 2005, everything that the AEF had come to expect as normal giving levels changed. The No Smoking Law that went into force on July 1, 2004 caused attendance at the bingo to crash. Many bingo players smoke and if they can’t smoke, they don’t enjoy bingo. They quite simply stopped coming. In turn, revenues to the AEF from the bingo also crashed and for the first time since the AEF was founded, receipts were far less than disbursements.

In fact, some commitments that were undertaken last summer to provide camp scholarships to children with disabilities and to needy children had to go unpaid until March of this year (2005). We thank those organizations heartily for the patience and forbearance that they showed to us; we paid the bills, but it took us a long time to do it.

Larger Problems Pending

The 2004 loss -- $18,384.71 – is an indication of a pending catastrophe for the AEF. If revenues cannot be recovered, the AEF will be forced to reduce its giving program. If the Board does not reduce giving, funds that were so difficult to accumulate over the past 18 years and banked to guard against large emergencies will be exhausted in three years. The Board of Directors does not want to reduce giving unless there is no other choice.