Hundreds attend Safe Harbor benefit
Longtime volunteer Elmer Duckinfield honored as humanitarian of the year
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
By TED TREVORROW, Special to the Local News
WEST GOSHEN - Nearly 200 people attended Safe Harbor homeless shelter’s third annual fundraiser Saturday night at QVC studio’s Atrium.
Many of West Chester and Chester County’s elected officials attended to provide support for the homeless shelter.
The star of the night was longtime Safe Harbor volunteer Elmer Duckinfield, who was presented with the Safe Harbor Andy Dinniman Humanitarian of the Year Award, named for the state senator who presented the award to Duckinfield.
Dinniman, D-19th, of West Whiteland, said it was an honor to give Duckinfield the award because he was “part of the original crew” who worked to establish Safe Harbor. The senator said people such as Duckinfield increase the awareness of homelessness in Chester County.
“Safe Harbor has been a mechanism that taught the community about the needs of the homeless, and the community responded,” Dinniman said.
Dinniman also credited Duckinfield with getting the message out about Safe Harbor and the work going on there.
In addition to the humanitarian award, Duckinfield received citations from Congressman Jim Gerlach, state Reps. Barbara McIlvaine Smith and Curt Schroder, U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, West Chester Mayor Dick Yoder, West Chester Borough Council President Susan Bayne and Vice President Charles Christy, Congressman Joseph Pitts, and Chester County Commissioners Terence Farrell and Kathi Cozzone.
Many of the speakers noted Duckinfield contributes to 70 nonprofit and charity organizations in Chester County, providing food, supplies, connections and simple manpower. Duckinfield put more than 15,000 miles on his car while directly supporting various organizations, they said.
Duckinfield said the ceremony was “unbelievable” and thanked all the volunteers at Safe Harbor.
“And our board is just amazing,” Duckinfield said.
Duckinfield credited the community for its contributions, adding, “Chester County does an excellent job of helping those in need.”
In addition to honoring Duckinfield, the event was held to raise funds for Safe Harbor.
Organizers have held the event in the previous two years to raise the necessary funds needed to operate the shelter. This year, however, Safe Harbor needs additional funds as it prepares to build its new second story.
The second floor has room for 20 single homeless women, making it the only facility in Chester County that provides them shelter.
One of the biggest champions of this cause is Duckinfield, who works with an Emergency Action Task Force that provides shelter to single homeless women during the winter. The task force coordinated with local churches to provide warm, safe beds at rotating local churches during the winter.
Commissioners Farrell and Cozzone presented Safe Harbor with a check for $200,000 toward its second-story expansion. That put Safe Harbor two-thirds of the way to its $1.5 million goal for the project.
Safe Harbor board member Ellen Donohoe said with that donation, the board would move to the public phase of its fundraising campaign and begin working to collect donations from the general public in the next few weeks.
Those in attendance also participated in a live and silent auction to raise money for the shelter. The live auction featured a V.I.P. tour of the Capitol with Specter, a four-day stay in Clearwater, Fla., during Phillies spring training in 2010, a seven-day stay at a beach house in Bethany Beach, Del., and four Diamond Club tickets to a Phillies game.
The silent auction was filled with items donated by individual supporters of Safe Harbor. These included gift baskets and several golf outings at five separate golf courses. Guests could also bid on tickets to Phillies games and selections of seasonal decorations, among many other gifts.
Mayor Yoder said West Chester is lucky to have Safe Harbor.
“They are putting people back in the right direction,” Yoder said.
The mayor said he also liked the way the community has responded to the shelter.
“They have not only embraced the problem, they have energized the people,” he said.
QVC has hosted Safe Harbor’s annual fundraiser and provides the space and all the furniture at no cost. Also, longtime QVC personality Jane Tracy will soon be joining the Safe Harbor Board of Directors.
The event was also sponsored by the Kensey Nash Corp. CEO John Kaufman said his company is proud to be helping Safe Harbor and all its efforts. He said even though times are tough, “We are always looking for ways to give back to the community, and this fit the criteria.”
For more information about volunteering or donating to Safe Harbor, visit the Web site www.SafeHarborofGWC.org or call 610-692-6550. The shelter’s address is 20 N. Matlack St., West Chester, PA 19380.
The Daily Local (dailylocal.com), Serving Chester County, PA
