There's nothing more heartbreaking for a welfare worker than trying to help the needy every single day, but knowing that there are some things the government just can't provide for them.

Mary Winkleman feels that some days. She's a mental health specialist for Weber Human Services (WHS), which serves the needy and mentally ill in Weber and Morgan counties. She often gets requests for help that Medicaid and Medicare won't pay for.

"It is very difficult to know that our clients need things and there is no government agency that can provide for them," she said.

So the counselors and therapists of WHS felt they couldn't just sit idly by. In 1994, they started a foundation called the Weber Human Services Foundation, in which employees donate money that is used to buy anything from clothes and toys to hearing aids for the aging, any important items and services the government won't pay for.

"They [the government] are cutting out any kind of extras because there is no budget for it," said the foundation's director Jodi Brown. "That leaves clients in need of things they don't know how to get. They can be as basic as a hearing aid that they need because they need it for work. There was a gentleman who needed carpal tunnel surgery. He had an injury that didn't allow him to go back to work."

For 15 years, George Donahue had a difficult time getting a job or just having a conversation with people because of his growing hearing loss. But he couldn't get hearing aids because Medicare would not pay for them.

Thanks to the foundation, which heard of his case through another Weber County program, the 67-year-old Ogden man got two free hearing aids last month. Now, Donahue isn't embarrassed to talk with someone, and he's working at the Hill Air Force Base Aerospace Museum doing data entry.

"I'm really grateful that they're able to do things like that," he said. "I can't put it into words what the feeling's like. It's so amazing. I can hear so much around me."

The foundation raises between $100,000 and $150,000 each year through community businesses, an annual golf tournament and 5K run fundraisers. But some 150 employees of Weber Human Services donate their own money and items to the clients they service, something that's particularly difficult when WHS employees have not received a raise for more than two years. Still, they have raised $22,000 for this year, more than any other year.

Meanwhile, they hold a Sub for Santa program every year, and employees there have an "Hour Club" and "Half-hour Club" in which they can donate up to an hour of their paycheck every two weeks to the foundation. Also, Winkleman and her husband hold a holiday party for their friends and co-workers where the only price of admission is donating something on the foundation's holiday "wishlist" of items for their clients.

The foundation is led by a board of directors made up of community representatives who meet once a month to determine which wishes can be fulfilled. About 20 to 24 requests are met each year.

"I cannot say enough good things about our employees," said Weber Human Services Executive Director Kevin Eastman. "They are good-hearted people. They feel grateful to have a job, but they reach into their own pockets to makes sure their clients are taken care of. They are salt-of-the-earth people."

vince@sltrib.com

Google+: +Vincent Horiuchi —

Weber Human Services Foundation

The Weber Human Services Foundation is a program through Weber Human Services that provides financial and in-kind support for those in need in Weber and Morgan counties.

P To donate, go to www.weberhs.org or call 801-778-6826. You can also create your own fundraising webpage for the foundation by going to www.firstgiving.com. —

Season of giving

P Each Sunday through Christmas, The Salt Lake Tribune is profiling giving efforts in communities across the state. To view stories in the series, a running list of opportunities to give and tips on making wise donations, visit www.sltrib.com/giving.