“For it is in the giving that we receive.” St. Francis of Assisi
October is a busy month for our club. It’s when we hold our largest fundraising event, the Basket Raffle. A big thank you to April Maska and Sue Nelson, who have worked diligently on this project since last May. Having this dynamic duo team has made light work of a heavy lift. Now the other volunteers are busy creating and wrapping baskets, so we have our usual beautiful baskets for bidding. Thank you to everyone who has donated baskets so far. Soon, volunteers will be greeting guests, selling 50/50 tickets (the proceeds from the 50/50 go to the Special State Project), and calling out the winners’ numbers. It’s a fun event that helps us support our charities and various scholarships. I hope to see many of you there with family and friends.
District Meeting
We hosted the September District Council Meeting for our District Vice President, Mary Schneider. I am proud to say that several members attended. Thank you to Sharon Bowen, Pixie O’Hare, and Jan Anastasi for organizing the refreshments. Thank you to Kim VanZoeren-Czoch and Joann Keefe for the beautiful fall favors and for collecting the entrance fees. Thank you, Karen Brown, for managing the State table. I would also like to thank our First VP, Jody Harris, who kept me on track throughout the evening. A sincere thank you to everyone.
For the September meeting, Mary arranged for two speakers. Tina Ree, NJSFWC Conference Chair, spoke about the upcoming State Fall Conference, and Ellen Lund, Director of Girls’ Career Institute, spoke about the program and changes for this coming year.
These District Council Meetings are informative, and they offer a good chance to meet members of other clubs and see what they are working on. I encourage everyone to attend at least one during the year. Club Presidents have the chance to discuss the top two or three projects their clubs worked on, and District Chairs from all categories share their top two or three projects. It’s a valuable learning experience.
West Deptford Family Fun Day
We participate in this event every year. This year, the township moved our display up front with the other township displays. Since we are not a township-run organization, I see this as an honor. We are important to this community. We are a presence. Thank you to all who participated and helped set up and tear down. This year, we collected several names of interested women, and Ann Caswell will be following up with all of them.
Meeting Space
Ladies, we have already outgrown the space at RiverWinds. Unfortunately, RiverWinds cannot open another room on our meeting night as they have other events going on. We have been in touch with the School Superintendent, Brian Gismondi, to see if we can meet in a school location, and pending the BOE approval, we will be moving over to the West Deptford Middle School starting in February 2026. We hope we can remain here for a long time.
In Federation friendship,
Janice