2007 donations to Fund For The Needy went a long way

More than $11.8 million has been collected since The Seattle Times Fund For The Needy was established in 1979. Every dollar goes to the recipient agencies.

"It says a lot about our community that the fund has been consistently strong," said Alan Fisco, Times vice president for circulation and marketing who serves as president of the fund.

Here's a partial list of what the 13 agencies accomplished with the $547,000 donated last year:

The Salvation Army: 73,920 nights of lodging for the homeless; 66,536 bags of groceries or food vouchers for the hungry; holiday gifts and food to 9,026 low-income residents; rent assistance to more than 500 households.

Senior Services: 438,847 meals delivered to 2,549 homebound seniors; help for more than 1,115 area residents raising relatives' children; programs and senior centers helping more than 55,000 seniors and caregivers.

Childhaven: 21,000 hours of service to children in the Drug-Affected Infant Program; 3,125 placement hours through a nursery program; responses to 2,089 crisis calls.

Hopelink: More than 12,000 clients helped with services such as food banks, shelters and financial assistance, or through life-skills classes, job-readiness training and employment assistance.

Family Services: Helped 236 families regain safe, stable housing; helped 121 families avoid eviction; provided 30,644 hours of mental-health counseling to individuals, couples and families.

Atlantic Street Center: Learning and leadership opportunities to 361 children and youth through tutoring and academic support, service opportunities, summer school and vocational exploration.

Youth Eastside Services: Helped nearly 24,000 kids and their families cope with emotional distress, substance abuse and violence.

Treehouse: Tutoring, recreational camps, clothing, toys and school supplies for more than 4,000 youth who have felt the effects of abuse and neglect.

Asian Counseling & Referral Service: About 45,000 meals served to Asian Pacific Islander elders; 14,000 youth and their parents helped through programs for self-esteem, leadership, cultural-identity development, conflict resolution, sexual-assault prevention, and mental health and substance-abuse treatment.

Kindering Center: Help for more than 2,800 special-needs children and their families, including assessments, special-education, mental-health, physical and speech therapies, and foster care.

Big Brothers Big Sisters: Mentors who spent more than 144,000 hours helping 2,131 at-risk youth.

ASTAR: Diagnostic, treatment and resource services for Northwest families living with autism.

Kent Youth and Family Services: More than 2,400 children and youth helped in after-school programs to develop and strengthen skills, personal competencies and community engagement; more than 1,700 nights of transitional housing for homeless teen mothers and their children; substance-abuse treatment for 122 teens.