Support for Cheer Fund appreciated

Dear Hamilton County community:
I am writing this letter on behalf of the Hamilton County Ministerial Association. The HCMA is made up of representatives from churches in Hamilton County. Together, we share what is called the Cheer Fund. The Cheer Fund is used to help families in need in Hamilton County. We use the Cheer Fund to help families pay rent and utility bills (gas, water, and electric).
As we close out the year 2025, I wanted to share where we are with the Cheer Fund. This last year, we had 67 requests from 45 households, totaling $16,858.37. This last year, we received donations totaling $14,230.90. If you do your math, you can easily see that we gave more than we received this past year.
As we begin this first week of a new year, we have already received eight requests from seven households, totaling $2,843.22.  While we doubt that this pace will remain consistent throughout the entire year, it’s easy to see that we are already on pace to receive a large increase of requests for help.
With that in mind, I wanted to invite the members of our community to support the Cheer Fund. So that you know where your money would be going and how it would be used, here’s how the Cheer Fund works. A family in need contacts a church in our community. Often times, they have been referred to us, either through the landlord/utility company, or through the counseling office at the school. Once we have received the request, we check our records to see if this household has already received help for the year. We do have a limit of $500 per household per year. Assuming that the household has not already received the annual limit, a check is then written and sent to the landlord or utility company to help pay the bill.
Donations come from local congregations, local charitable organizations, and from local businesses and individuals in our community. A full 100 percent of all donations goes toward helping pay bills for families in need.
If you would like to support the Cheer Fund, you can send donations to P.O. Box 112, Aurora, NE 68818. Please write checks to HCMA. We appreciate your help and support as we work together to help families in need.
In Christ,
Tim Wells,
The churches of the HCMA