Needy Child Fund Continuing to Accept Applications

The East Ridge Needy Child Fund has extended its deadline for applying for assistance during the holiday season until November 20, officials said Monday.

Anyone interested in applying for help can pick up an application at East Ridge City Hall. Once the application is completed, it can be returned to City Hall as well. If it is more convenient, the application can be returned to school counselors at East Ridge or Spring Creek Elementary Schools.

Officials emphasize that if you wish to apply please do not wait until the Nov. 20 deadline. Please apply as soon as possible.

Applicants should be prepared to present documents that verify income, government assistance and children’s addresses. The organization assists families with a maximum income of $24,000, officials said. In addition, the ERNCF cross checks with a clearing house to make sure that it is the only organization that is providing assistance with Christmas gifts and some essentials during the holidays.

Once an application is received, an interviewer will come and speak with you. At the end of the interview, you will be assigned a family number. You will provide this number when picking up your items.

Anyone with questions should direct them to Alicia Stanfield at 423-802-5777 or email her at [email protected]

About Dick Cook

Dick Cook has lived in East Ridge since the Kennedy Administration when his parents bought a house on Marietta Street. Dick graduated from ERHS in 1976 before going on to the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga where he studied Political Science. Dick worked for the Chattanooga Free-Press and the Chattanooga Times Free Press for 22 years. Free-Press Sports Editor Roy Exum plucked him out of production in 1989 and gave him a job as a sports reporter. Dick covered everything from prep sports to the whitewater events on the Ocoee River for the 1996 Olympics. When Chattanooga's two paper's merged, he became the Crime Reporter covering both the Chattanooga Police and Fire Departments. He was among reporters who were honored by the Associated Press for the TFP's coverage of the 2002 fog-shrouded crash on I-75 in Catoosa County, Dick and his wife, Cathy, live on Marlboro Avenue where they are seen frequently chasing around their three grandsons.