Trust fund aids residents with cancer
ZELIENOPLE — A decades-old fund continues to aid borough residents who have cancer.
Howard E. Eckhart’s trust fund has helped the sick for about 34 years, according to Mayor Tom Oliverio.
“I think we’ve done pretty well with it,” said Oliverio, who has been on the trust board since 1982.
Oliverio said he first learned of the fund in 1982 when he was borough council president.
“That fund was very quiet for a while. No one did much with it,” Oliverio said. “The money over the years built up.”
It was originally intended to help people who had polio. Eckhart himself had the disease.
However, a condition was made that the money could be used for cancer patients if polio was eradicated.
The fund helps patients with costs for medicine, food, medical bills, home care, rides to the hospital or any other medical necessity.
Patients need to submit an application to a trust board member to be considered for aid. The board reviews the application and visits the patient to determine individual needs.
“We find out what their needs are to take the next step,” Oliverio said. “There are many ways we can help them.”
The board consists of representatives from two Zelienople Lutheran churches, a NexTier Bank official, the borough council president and the mayor. NexTier Bank is where the trust money is kept.
Oliverio said cash is never given to the patients. Vouchers or the actual item or service needed are given.
Oliverio did not say exactly how much money is in the trust, saying there is a “big lump sum.”
He said interest rates were better when he first became a member of the board.
“Back then, we just used the interest, that way the fund will always stay there,” he said. “The interest rates have gone down to practically zero. We’re having to dip into the principal of the money.”
The fund is helping one resident with leukemia. It usually helps an average of four people a year.
Eckhart was active in the borough’s Little League baseball program, serving as commissioner in the mid-1950s. He died in 1965 at the age of 72.
“I understand that he was a good guy and everybody liked him,” Oliverio said. “He always wanted to do something for the kids.”
Applicants must live in the borough and experience financial hardships.
For information, contact Oliverio at 724-452-8685.
