Fundraiser for Mister Rogers alum Francois Clemmons reaches goal

An online fundraiser for the actor who played Officer Clemmons in the iconic children’s program “Mister Roger’s Neighborhood” has hit its $100,000 goal — thanks in part to The New York Post.

“WE DID IT! Thanks to a donation just this afternoon … we reached our $100,000 goal,” the group Friends of Officer Clemmons wrote on GoFundMe. “Over the past 10 weeks we have received generous donations from 600 caring individuals like you to reach our $100,000 goal.

“…And we are enormously grateful for the sensitive and heartfelt NY Post article last week about our fundraiser. That article nearly doubled donations to our GFM site, and allowed us to raise $20,000 in just eight days,” the fundraisers noted.

“But we’re not finished yet — we still need to raise $2,900 to cover the 2.9% GFM transaction fees deducted from all donations. And we can always exceed our original goal!” they added.

Singer and actor Francois Clemmons, best known for breaking racial barriers in his role on “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood,” has been struggling to make ends meet amid poor health and limited income.

Clemmons, 78, had two strokes in 2015 and 2016, two knee-replacement surgeries and needs a health aide along with other services at his Vermont assisted-living facility.

The fundraiser launched in the fall and included a $5,000 donation from Clemmons’ Oberlin College classmates, Ted and Molly Raphael.

“A New Year’s miracle in the making,” Chuck Dickinson, another Oberlin classmate who led the campaign, told The Post of hitting the $100,000 mark.

Clemmons, who played a singing policeman on the PBS series from 1968 to 1993, was one of the first African Americans to have a leading role on national children’s television.

The Birmingham, Alabama, native lived on West 101 Street and Central Park West for 35 years and created the Harlem Spiritual Ensemble. He first met Fred Rogers through Roger’s wife, Joanne, who was in a church choir with him in Pittsburgh.

A May 1969 episode featured the black Clemmons and the white Rogers dipping their feet in a kiddie pool at the same time on a hot day and sharing a towel to dry off — sending a quiet but powerful message about equality at a time when segregated swimming pools were the norm.