Northern Children's Services Raises Funds For Water Heater

PHILADELPHIA, PA -- For the first time in recent memory, one Manayunk-area nonprofit said they face an emergency.

Northern Children’s Services, which works to help low income children and families in the area, needs a new water boiler.

Their boiler stopped working at a “very bad time,” said Renata Cobbs-Fletcher, president and CEO of the group. “We simply do not have the funds to support a new boiler.”

In response, they have launched a GoFundMe campaign to raise the $200,000 needed to purchase a new one.

As of Monday night, they had already raised $9,225 in a matter of thirteen days, including donations from more than one-hundred people.

The broken boiler has been heating three main buildings on their campus - Hutter, Lowry, and Clarency Halls - for 50 years, they said.

It happened just before the January blizzard struck.

“This has meant cancelling our programs for low-income medical assistance eligible children, youth and families that are served in these buildings,” Cobbs-Fletcher said. “Our after-school behavioral health program for 60 vulnerable children from various public schools across Philadelphia that rely on our services has been cancelled. However, against all odds and despite unbearable conditions, Northern continues to move forward simply because giving up is not an option.”

To view the campaign or to donate, please see here.