By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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ROCKFORD — A local family has pledged to cover up to half of the $430,000 budget shortfall faced by the Rockford Rescue Mission.
The Goellner Family Charitable Fund, which grew from the family businesses of Advanced Machine & Engineering and Hennig Inc., said Friday that it will match up to $215,000 donated to the Mission before the end of the year. The family made that pledge less than 24 hours after news of the shortfall went public.
“What a Christmas blessing,” Sherry Pitney, Rockford Rescue Mission CEO, said in a news release. “We’ve had such a wonderful relationship with the Goellner family over the years, and we are again overwhelmed by their generosity.”
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Rockford Rescue Mission is a Christian-centered nonprofit that provides food, shelter and recovery programs for the homeless and people battling addiction or mental illness. Officials with the nonprofit said this is the first budget deficit they’ve faced in 14 years.
The Goellner Family Charitable Fund represents three generations: from Willy Goellner, who founded the family business, to his children and grandchildren. They’ve been supporters of the Rescue Mission for years, including a major donation in 2016 that supported the construction of Pitney Place for women and children. Family members said they’re inspired by a Bible verse from Psalm 138, which reads, “Though the Lord is exalted, he looks kindly on the lowly.”
Members of the family served their annual Christmas dinner on Thursday to Mission residents, and after talking with family members about how to close the gap they created the matching gift.
“This is not about our family doing anything special,” Nick Goellner, a grandson, said in a news release. “Anything we can do to try to inspire people to support what the Mission does, we’re going to try to do that.
“We’re excited to see what can happen. We know God is working through the Mission and it’s always been close to our hearts. I think the timing of it all is interesting — that the story came out the same day we had planned the Christmas dinner.”
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How to help
Donations can be made online at rockfordrescuemission.org or mailed to Rockford Rescue Mission, 715 W. State St., Rockford, IL 61102.
For more information, email info@rockfordrescuemission.org or call 815-965-5332.
This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on X at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas and Threads @thekevinhaas