APPLETON — A few well-worn phrases pretty well sum up this situation.

"An idea whose time has come."

"A victim of its own success."

And, most importantly, "help wanted."

Yes, keep that last one in mind. And heed it.

You have two weeks to make a difference for Fox Valley residents who depend on a wonderful program that gives them access to needed prescription drugs.

The Community Emergency Prescription Drug Fund, administered by the Fox Cities Community Health Center at the Goodwill campus in Menasha, has helped more than 3,000 patients since April 2007. The fund assists low-income patients in getting medications that they can't afford, either through drug samples, low-cost generics or vouchers that pay for prescriptions on a temporary basis.

Our challenging economy has made this program more vital than ever. It began with about three patients per day. Today, in a global recession, nearly more than four times that many seek the fund's assistance, straining the time of the center's only full-time nurse.

Thus, "an idea whose time has come" is "a victim of its own success."

But here's the "help wanted" sign.

A $25,000 matching grant from the John J. and Ethel D. Keller Donor-Advised Fund within the Community Foundation for the Fox Valley Region has been extended for two weeks — until Dec. 15 — with the intent of funding a nursing position to administer the emergency drug program at the center. As of Friday, a little more than $10,000 had been collected to match the Keller grant.

This week, The Post-Crescent will donate $5,000 from its Community Fund within the Community Foundation to give the campaign a needed boost. And we challenge other media companies in the Fox Valley to contribute, too.

The rest is on the community's shoulders. Can we raise another $10,000 in two weeks, even during a season of already amazing philanthropy?

Of course we can. And we need to. The future of this vital program is in the balance.

Kristene Stacker, executive director of the Fox Cities Community Health Center, sees the impact of the Emergency Drug Fund every day. She cited the recent case of a boy who was diagnosed as schizophrenic at age 6, and prospered with the appropriate medication.

When it became clear that the boy's low-income parents could not afford the prescription, the Center's nurse worked to find it for $13 per month, and make a positive difference for a child in a low-income family.

"From a mental-health perspective, there are a lot of cool stories," Stacker said. "It's amazing how much of a difference $13 to $15 a month can make in someone's life."

If the Keller Foundation's grant is matched, Stacker can add a nurse to the center's staff to administer the fund. The four-fold increase in patients seeking assistance from the drug fund — referrals not only from the Center, but low-income patients from Affinity Health System and ThedaCare, according to Stacker — requires that the center's lone nurse spend about 30 hours per week on finding drugs, comparing costs, making connections and seeing the program work in the way it was intended.

If the grant isn't matched, it doesn't bode well for the program.

"I can't even guess" what would happen if the drug program were discontinued, said Mary Harp-Jirschele, executive director of the J. J. Keller Foundation in Neenah. "This community doesn't work without it, so (Stacker) has to figure out a way to make it work in her budget, and she understands that. All we can do is try to find the money to make sure it's funded."

Harp-Jirschele told P-C reporter Ed Lowe that she's noticed an absence of major corporate donations to the drug program so far.

"That was one of the reasons why we extended the match date," she said. "There are a couple of board meetings in December for various funders. We're trying to give them a little more time to meet and respond to this request."

The Kellers have been uncommonly supportive of the Emergency Prescription Drug Fund and Community Health Center. In June, the J. J. Keller Foundation approved a $25,000 grant for the clinic, and sought the additional matching grant from the donor-advised fund to support the nursing position.

Until today, the money has not come close to the match, which puts an important program in peril.

"To leave this position unfunded and risk its demise is simply not an option," Harp-Jirschele said. "The R.N. position is critical to the integrity of the Prescription Drug Fund itself. That professional maximizes the cost efficiency and reach of the program."

The Community Emergency Prescription Drug Fund was established with a $10,000 grant from the John and Sally Mielke Family Fund within the Community Foundation, after several nonprofit organizations reported a significant increase in clients who were unable to pay prescription costs.

That was almost three years ago — before the economy went further south, and before we saw thousands more of our neighbors lose their jobs.

Stacker noted that because the program is helping patients from other health-care providers, the nurse position helps more than just her nonprofit clinic.

"These aren't all Community Health Center patients," she said. "In fact, most of them aren't. … They (other providers) call us to tell us they're going to be sending a patient over. … We can't afford to fund the position for the community."

The program's goal is to give temporary assistance to patients until they can find a more permanent solution, sometimes through a prescription assistance program through pharmaceutical companies.

In these times, however, the meaning of "temporary" can get a little fuzzy.

"We do the one-time financial hardship … until we can get them on a prescription assistance program," Stacker said. "But if they're experiencing hardship this month, and next month is no better, we've got to look to what's out there for next month."

The instability in Fox Valley employment also plays a role in what patients come to the Community Health Center. Some can't afford COBRA insurance. Some have untenably high deductibles in their health insurance. And others hit the Medicare Part D "donut hole," after they've expended their Part D initial coverage, and before they've reached the "catastrophic coverage" level.

"Some of the complexity of the medication gets a little higher" when dealing with these situations, Stacker said.

The Community Emergency Prescription Drug Fund is a beautiful thing. An idea whose time has come. A success for those it serves.

We can't look the other way.

We need to see this sign clearly, and understand what it says.

"Help wanted." That means you.