Christmas card offers chance to give Food 4 Kids

It’s hard to believe some kids in our community go to bed hungry at night. But it is true, and particularly this time of year, it’s something people want to do something about.

One program that is helping meet the needs of the “chronically hungry” is the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma Food 4 Kids program. Through this program, needy children are selected to receive non-perishable food items to take home from school on Friday. That food often may be the only food these children get between Friday and Monday morning.

More than 200 children have been identified through Enid Public Schools to receive a Food 4 Kids backpack. But, we know there are others out there who also need this help.

This year, the Enid News & Eagle is raising money to benefit the Enid Food 4 Kids program. The newspaper is offering a Community Christmas Card for readers to sign by donating a minimum of $1 per name. Our goal is to raise enough to provide for at least 20 backpacks. It takes around $115 per child per year for the backpack program.

We have been gratified by the response we’ve had so far. We’re about halfway to our goal, but more importantly, we would love to go over that goal. We would love to see hundreds or thousands of names on this Community Christmas Card, which will be published in a Christmas edition of the News & Eagle.

The great thing about the Community Christmas Card is it is so affordable. School classes, churches, civic organizations can have their members’ names on the card for just $1 per name. Many businesses and individuals have contributed to the card this year above the minimum $1 per name. Some businesses have donated enough to provide the program for one child.

We hope our readers join us in supporting this worthwhile project. All the proceeds raised for this Community Christmas Card will stay in Enid and help Enid kids. To sign the Community Christmas Card, send names and donations to Community Christmas Card, c/o Enid News & Eagle, P.O. Box 1192, Enid, OK 73702, or come by the newspaper office at 227 W. Broadway during regular business hours. Deadline to sign the card is Dec. 21.

What are people saying about mortgages today:

Rates on 30-year mortgages edged down last week to a seven-month low. Mortgage-giant Freddie Mac reported Thursday that 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages fell to 6.3 percent, down slightly from 6.31 percent two weeks ago. It put rates at the lowest level since they were at 6.24 percent the first week of March.

Bank of Hawaii, Central Pacific Bank, Territorial Savings Bank and Wells Fargo Home Mortgages all cut their 30-year mortgage rates to 5.75 percent this week.

Most people think of a mortgage as a means to an end. After all, you buy a house, not a home loan. But a mortgage is much more than the path to homeownership. It is a financial instrument that must be managed, just like any other financial investment.