The trees are dropping their leaves, the temperatures are falling, as we head into the holiday season. Before you know it, we will be wearing cozy sweaters and watching the Thanksgiving Day Parade. Finally, with family and friends we sit down to Thanksgiving dinner. As we celebrate the holiday we are reminded to be thankful and grateful for the many blessings in our lives— and the many blessings we bring into the lives of others.
“May the blessings of Thanksgiving fill your heart and home with joy.”
– Seasonal Blessing
Member Appreciation Month
“A club is only as strong as its members, and we are incredibly blessed to have women as passionate and committed as you.” —Unknown
I am grateful and appreciative for every one of you ladies. Your hard work, dedication, for always stepping up to help, for everything you do to make our club a success. It is a pleasure working and growing together. You are amazing women.
Thanksgiving Baskets/Operation Blessing
Once again, we are able to bring Thanksgiving meals into the homes of three families in our school district. Each dinner is valued at $250.00 The district will decide which families will get these meals. The funds come from our 2025 basket raffle and internal fundraisers. This is one way we give back to the community.
omething else we do at this time of year is called “Operation Blessing.” This is run by the high school. We give money, $1,500.00, to the high school guidance department for this project. This money will allow families to shop for gifts for their children during the holiday season. These are just two of the many ways we give back to the community from our fundraising each year to make someone’s holiday season just a bit brighter.
Food Insecurity
Whie we are able to help some people during this holiday season, unfortunately, there are many more that we cannot. In the spirit of the season, I’d like to request, if at all possible, that you consider filling a grocery bag for one of our food pantries and bring it to the November meeting. You can designate if you would like your items to go to the Dream Center, Colonial Manor Pantry, or Greater Woodbury Cooperative Pantry. I’m sure they would be appreciative of anything we can add at this holiday season. Please be sure to note the number of items you are able to donate, the time spent in shopping for your items, and your cost.
Guest Speakers/Programs
November’s speaker will be Natalie Fortunato from the South Jersey Dream Center. If you could please arrive by 6:30pm so she can start promptly, that would be appreciated.
Basket Raffle Update
The basket raffle was a tremendous success with 226 tickets sold, and 76 beautiful baskets to tempt our patrons. Not to mention our Super Baskets, Mystery Bags and our 50/50 for Embrella. A huge thank you to April and Sue N. for chairing this event, as well as to the “Basket Gems” and everyone else who helped in some way to make this event possible, profitable, and a wonderful
afternoon spent with family, friends, and club sisters. I’ll stop there and let both April and Sue fill in all the details for us.
Page Turners and Pixels
Wednesday, December 2, 2026 at 7:00pm on Zoom. We will be discussing the book, Theo of Golden by Allen Levi. If interested in attending, let me know by Monday, November 30th.
NJSFWC Workshops and Seminar
I can’t stress how important it is to attend the report writing workshop if at all possible. This workshop is being held in November, on Zoom. You will learn what your report should include and what is being looked for to project what you have worked so hard to accomplish in your committees. (Jan.-Dec. 2026.) November 18, 2026 Zoom Meeting 7:00-8:30pm
Report Writing
Last month I suggested you start gathering your information. This year is a complicated year, as our reports go from January -December 2026. Many of our committees, as well as board positions, have changed hands as of September. With that being said, several people might be working on the same report. We will discuss this at the meeting next week. Please bring your questions and concerns. I will have handouts for those that are responsible to write a report this year.
Reports will be due to me by early January so they can be reviewed, and sent out by the end of the month. They must be postmarked by the end of January. Please keep in mind deadlines and due dates.
Upcoming Meeting(s)
Just a reminder that our December meeting will be abbreviated, so that we can celebrate the holidays together at Seven Star on Tues., December 8 at 6pm. As has been prior practice, our January meeting (1/12) will be a 6:30pm Zoom meeting. We will come together once again on Tuesday, February 9, 2027 at the West Deptford Middle School at 6:30 promptly.
Wishing you all a very Happy Thanksgiving.
In Federation Friendship,
Jody