Slippery Rock community leaders saw a need and acted.

Slippery Rock Mayor Jondavid Longo, with the help of the Slippery Rock Baptist Church and the Crossroads Baptist Church, both in Slippery Rock, have developed a fundraising campaign to give money to laid-off service workers in the 16057 ZIP code.

Longo said he collected about 200 names of employees in need from their employers.

“Ideally I would love to have some money out before Christmas Eve,” he said. “It all depends on how much money we can raise in the next few weeks.”

Longo started the campaign with a $100 donation of his own, but has maintained a support role for the campaign outside of its finances.

“I don't like to handle money, ever,” he said. “I'm putting this in the hands of men of God to collect the funds.”

The GoFundMe donations page is being monitored and overseen by Pastor Chad Bailey of Slippery Rock Baptist and Pastor Jeff Lynn of Crossroads Baptist.

“Our primary concern is service workers with families, with children,” Bailey said. “We want them to have all the benefits of celebrating Christmas.”

Lynn said the churches themselves are not contributing toward the fundraising efforts, but the pastors will be looking to their membership and other forms of outreach to raise the funds.

He said he plans to also set up outside local businesses and high-traffic areas to raise awareness about the new campaign. He said talking about the campaign during Sunday services should also give the campaign a jolt.

“These people aren't people who don't want to work and want a handout,” Lynn said. “These are people who want to work. It's a completely different situation. We feel that it's necessary to do what we can to help.”

Bailey said the need is obvious, and so too are the side-effects of job loss. He said across the country suicide, domestic violence and alcoholism, among other struggles, are on the rise.

“We fear that Slippery Rock will not be immune from those things,” he said.

The GoFundMe account had raised more than $2,500 of its $10,000 goal as of Thursday afternoon, but both pastors are optimistic because that amount has been raised in just the last two days since the page was created.

“I would not be shocked at all if we exceeded $10,000,” Bailey said.

The funds will be divided evenly among those who have a need, so any additional funds will only increase the amount each individual receives.

Lynn said those who follow the Christian faith are often some of the most frequent and largest donors. He said this year he has come to appreciate anyone who is willing to acknowledge the need of their neighbors.

“It's been a rough year for many people, but people are realizing they may not be as negatively affected as others,” Lynn said. “The fact that they are willing to see the need and give is encouraging.”