No Kid Without A Christmas: Goodfellows On Streets With Newspapers For Sale
DETROIT (WWJ) - Everyone from lawyers and dentists, to police and firefighters, will be on the streets Monday to sell the special edition Goodfellows Newspapers, to raise money for needy Detroit area children.
WWJ's Ron Dewey says the cause has been part of the Detroit holiday scene the past 101 years.
Over that time it's estimated the Goodfellows have touched the lives of as many as four million people in metro Detroit.
Nancy Foran, president of Goodfellows says the tradition spans generations.
"Time after time we hear the parents come back to us and say 'I grew up without anything and without the Goodfellows we would not have had anything under our tree at Christmas,'" said Foran.
She says many children are in families who are under the poverty level and the parents depend on the Goodfellows.
"People have come and say 'I have every doll that I got as a kid' and here's fifty dollars - thank you very much," she says.
The gift boxes include age and gender appropriate clothes, necessities and other toys - there are over 10,000 handmade dolls.
The goal is to raise over a million dollars to help 34,000 area children and their families, with newspaper sales accounting for roughly $50,000 dollars.
Donations also accepted on line at Detroit Goodfellows.
