HOW TO HELP
The Neediest Cases Fund, started by the Chattanooga Times in 1914, annually asks readers to donate money to help people in the area. The fund partners with the United Way of Greater Chattanooga to allocate the money raised to help specific families in need. To make a tax-deductible donation, call 423-757-6208, visit http://timesfreepress.com/neediestcases or clip the coupon in the Region section of today's newspaper and mail it with your check.
No one deserves to bury two children, but that was Margaret Cone's lot in life.
On April 5, her son, Rick Penley, "passed away quietly," his obituary said. Another son, Michael Wayne Penley, had died some years ago.
For whatever reason, although her son had an ex-wife and two children, Cone had to absorb the expenses of her son's funeral. Subsisting only on Social Security after more than 20 years of service as a secretary with the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office, she turned to the office of U.S. Sen. Bob Corker, which, in turn, referred her to United Way of Greater Chattanooga's 2-1-1, an information line that connects people to services to help meet their needs.
The 2-1-1 service then tapped the Neediest Cases Fund of the Chattanooga Times Free Press, which contributed $300 toward funeral costs.
Cope's church, East Chattanooga Church of God, also contributed $300.
"We all hit rough times," said Leah Hooper, benevolence and outreach coordinator for the church. "It's up to us as a church, and as a body of Christ (the Neediest Cases Fund) to be Christ in those situations."
The Neediest Cases Fund, while not tied to a particular faith, in essence serves as the hands and feet of the Christ child whose birth the Christian world celebrates today.
Although that baby came into the world with parents who were nobodies in a stable habitable only because there was no room in the adjacent inn, he lives on in the hearts of people and in the mission statements of organizations who desire to help those less fortunate than themselves.
Many of those give because they recall -- and believe in -- the message of assistance Christ shared in a story: "And the king will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.'"
In helping "the least of these," or those truly in need, the Neediest Cases Fund provides help here with an electric bill for a woman with two small children and a husband in jail on a traffic violation, and there with assistance to a woman living at a shelter who was trying to pay an old Chattanooga Housing Authority bill in order to get a Section 8 housing voucher for her and her son.
For Cope, it was the funeral expenses.
Her son, according to his obituary, had an industrial injury that caused a disability but also, Hooper thought, "some heart issues."
Yet, it said, he "was a happy, fun-loving guy. His passion was shooting pool, and [he] was very competitive. He would give a person the shirt off his back and then button it for him. But if Rick got cold, he would take it back."
Unfortunately, less than five months later, on Aug. 27, from what Hooper said were various "health issues," but also perhaps from a broken heart at having to bury two sons, Cope died, too.
She was "a sweetheart, a doll," the benevolence coordinator said. "I could always count on her to come and give me a hug."
For the money the church gave her, Hooper said, and for the money the Neediest Case Fund provided, "she was very thankful." Without it, "she couldn't get any closure. I think it provided closure. I think it gave her some peace."
Just as the Neediest Cases Fund was able to distribute throughout the year the more than $61,000 Chattanoogans provided at Christmas in 2013, East Chattanooga Church of God's benevolence fund also is active year-round.
It provides, among other things, snack packs for school children, a food pantry or clothes closet, lodging and rent assistance in certain conditions, and financial counseling.
The fund's mission, like that of the Neediest Cases Fund but with a denominational tie, is "to be Christ in the world," Hooper said. "We are his body extended. We say, we're doing life together, and life isn't always easy."
However, she said, it's easier for everybody when there's "a body [of Christ] to do life with, to do what he did."
In this case, the Neediest Cases Fund and East Chattanooga Church of God served as that body for Margaret Cone.
And, two millennia after the birth of a tiny baby in Bethlehem, his reason for existence -- to be a bridge in a broken world -- is why we remember him.