MIFFLINBURG — A single mother of two children, Rebecca said she is having trouble making ends meet this holiday season.

“It’s very hard for me because I don’t like to take handouts,” Rebecca said, breaking down in tears. “I don’t like to ask for help.”

But she’s been forced to ask for help over the past few years, she said, because of several factors working against her.

Due to medical problems, Rebecca is unable to work and exists on disability payments.

Of her two children at home, she receives child support payments for only one, her 2-year-old son. Support payments for her 15-year-old son stopped when the boy’s father was incarcerated, Rebecca said.

While her 2-year-old remains unaware of the family’s difficult financial situation, Rebecca’s teenage son isn’t afforded such youthful ignorance.

“I just try to tell him sometimes I have to make choices on what to pay and I just can’t do things that he would like to do sometimes,” she said. “I try to make the best choices I can with what I have.”

In registering for the Needy Family Fund, Rebecca said she hopes to provide a small Christmas celebration for her boys and a good meal.

“Just something for my kids for under the tree,” she said. “They know it won’t be a lot, and I just would like to see them have something.”

The Needy Family Fund, sponsored by The Daily Item, Sunbury Broadcasting Corp. and Susquehanna Bank, in cooperation with Salvation Army citadels in Sunbury and Milton, raises money to help the less fortunate in the Valley during the holidays.

Today’s balance stands at $5,629.

Recent donors are: in appreciation of Cathy Teisher and Haven Ministries for helping the homeless, Lewisburg, $800; Jesse and P. Maxine Woodring, Sunbury, $500; James and Myra Troutman, Klingerstown, $500; M.A. and Margaret L. Leitzel, Northumberland, $175; Martin and Pauline Pope, Selinsgrove, $150; Joseph and L. Theona Bloom, Sunbury, $100; Paul Kitchen, Watsontown, $50; Kevin J. Meese, Raleigh, N.C., $75; Susan and Danny Kerstetter, Sunbury, $50; Theresa and Larry Koch, in memory of Sharon Guyer, Sunbury, $50; Barbara Weniger, in memory of Sharon Guyer, Danville, $30; Sandra D. Fisher, Sunbury, $20; and anonymous donations totaling $174.

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Needy Family Fund

Donations go to buy food, clothing and gifts for the less fortunate in the Valley. Contributions are tax-deductible. The fund is sponsored by The Daily Item, Sunbury Broadcasting Corp. and Susquehanna Bank. Contributions may be taken to any Susquehanna Bank office or mailed to: