Detroit Goodfellows collecting to provide Christmas presents to 30,000 area children

A holiday tradition continues on the streets of Detroit as the Old Newsboys' Goodfellow fund kicked off its annual fundraiser today.

Detroit's Goodfellows were out bright and early Monday morning selling newspapers - a trademark of their yearly fundraiser.

"This is put together by the Detroit News and Free Press and any dollar donated goes to support our program," said one volunteer. "So we are grateful for anything anybody would care to give."

The goal for 2019 is to raise $1.1 million which goes to provide holiday presents to 30,000 Detroit-area children, ages 4 to 13 years old. 

"We provide them with clothing, dental, socks, dolls for the girls," said another volunteer.

The dollar amount of the donation is not what counts, said Fred Ferguson of Roseville.

"Every little bit helps," he said. "A couple dollars out of my pocket is not going to kill me. Everybody should try to help out."

If you run into any of the volunteers and don't have cash, take a card, scan the code with your phone and make a donation that way. You can also make a donation online at https://www.detroitgoodfellows.org/