MONTANDON -- Most of the $600 a Montandon father of three receives in workers' compensation each month goes toward attorney fees in his fight against the workplace in which he was injured, and later fired.
He's had three knee surgeries and is possibly facing a fourth next year.
His wife's part-time job offers no health benefits.
Their 3-year-old son is scheduled to have a brain scan for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. Their 1½-year-old daughter faces surgery on her leg.
"We're getting hit kind of rough this year," said the woman, who with her husband wished to remain anonymous.
Her husband's accident occurred in 2005. Most of his workers' compensation money goes toward attorney fees for the case they have filed against his former workplace because of the accident. Physicians made her husband file for disability because he could not work, she said.
The family has been living in a mobile home since 2005.
"Right before he got hurt, we got approved to buy a house and everything," she said. "But we had to cancel that."
After her husband got hurt, she said they ran up a lot of credit-card debt just to have food in the house and pay some bills.
They are paying on a loan for the mobile home, as well as rent for the lot on which it sits. They must pay all the utilities, and are also making payments on two vehicles. She said they are trying to sell one of them in order to save money.
She works part time as a traveling nurse's aide, a job that offers no health benefits. Her children, ages 6, 3, and 1½, are on assistance with Access.
Doctors have said their youngest daughter's growth plate is twisted.
"Her left knee keeps popping out of place," she said. "She sees a lot of doctors from Geisinger to Hershey, which is a lot of gas.
"Without help, these kids are not going to have a Christmas. We can barely afford our bills."
This is the first year the couple has applied for help through the Salvation Army.
"I used to actually donate to the Salvation Army, and I helped with Toys for Tots. We've donated money to it every year. The kids actually pulled off the names from the Christmas tree. This year, we can't."
For Christmas this year, she said her son is really into Batman and The Hulk. Her eldest daughter loves Hannah Montana and "High School Musical," but is also in need of clothes. The youngest loves baby dolls, but can also use some learning toys to help her with some speech difficulties she is facing.
The Needy Family Fund, sponsored by The Daily Item, Sunbury Broadcasting Corp. and Susquehanna Bank, raises money during the holidays for the Valley's less fortunate. It is administered by Salvation Army citadels in Milton and Sunbury.
Today's balance is $16,055.
Recent donors are John and Melissa Covaleski, Lewisburg, $100; Alice Marquart, Lewisburg, $50; G. Alvesta Heim, Mount Pleasant Mills, $50; Ray and Betty Cook, Selinsgrove, $50; Kathleen S. Burch, Lewisburg, $50; Shirley Sheaffer, Mount Pleasant Mills, $35; Jack and Carol Dale, Millmont, $30; and Allan and Francine Corcoran, Lewisburg, $25.
Also, Betty Solomon, Mifflinburg, $25; David and Elizabeth Clough, Lewisburg, $300; Jack and Susan Marks, in loving memory of our son, Jeffrey A. Marks, Winfield, $100; Marcella J. Ream, Selinsgrove, $100; Donald and Joan Zerbe, Herndon, $100; Ken and Sandy Field, Lewisburg, $200; Robert L. Roat, Lewisburg, $100; Vivienne M. Richie, $50; and Gary and Marilyn Sites, Sunbury, $50.
Anonymous donations totaled $1,305.
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