Kiwanis One Day 2016

KCOJ members (left to right) Lois, Colleen, Carol & Fran created blankets and packaged food & toiletry items for the area homeless. Not pictured are Pam and her family. (Mea culpa: photo error.)

The Kiwanis Club of Jackson, together with one of its sponsored youth groups, The Goetz Middle School Builders Club, participated in creating 15 blankets for the homeless. It also put together packages of food items and toiletries for the area homeless.

The two groups met at the Whitesville Firehouse Saturday, April 2, 2016.

The Kiwanis One Day Project is celebrated annually around the world. The Kiwanis clubs each pick their own project and partner with the sponsored youth clubs to  "improve the world one child, one community at a time."

Members of the Goetz Middle School Builders Club helped make blankets for the local homeless.

KCOJ donates a computer system to the Jackson Food Pantry

KCOJ president Fran Politto (left) presents Jo Corbiscello a laptop computer, printer and software to assist the Jackson Food Pantry with their administrative tasks.

The Kiwanis Club of Jackson presented The Jackson Food Pantry a laptop computer, printer and Microsoft Office Suite to assist the pantry with keeping track of donations and food inventory.

"The computer will provide a more reliable way of doing the administrative tasks that are required for running a food pantry," said Jo Corbiscello, director of the food pantry. "This donation is wonderful addition for us. The old computer took a long time to boot up and often made mistakes."

The food pantry is a project of Jackson Women of Today. The Kiwanis Club of Jackson and its sponsored youth programs (both Key Clubs its two Builders Clubs) has long supported the pantry with food donations and has helped with tasks as varied stocking shelves, cleaning and distribution of the food.

Thank you, from Steve and the homeless in our area

Yesterday we delivered 32 packets to Steve Brigham to distribute to the homeless in the Lakewood and Jackson area. The packets are holiday gifts to encourage them during the National night of Remembering the Homeless, Dec. 21st, and Christmas.

The packages included items like soap, shampoo, toothbrush and toothpaste, powder, disposable razors & shaving cream, socks, hats, gloves & scarves, feminine hygiene products, and McDonald's gift certificates.

Every Saturday Steve distributes clothing and food at the Lakewood Town Center to the poor and homeless. In addition to the packages we gave him clothing, insulated vests, coats and sneakers to distribute.

Steve wanted me to pass along thanks to our Kiwanis club on behalf of the homeless.

It really was our pleasure to help. We had a lot of fun assembling the packages. Thank you for the opportunity to help.

Helping the homeless celebrate the holidays

A special thank you to Carol, Peanut and Skipper (not necessarily in that order) for letting us use their home to wrap gifts for the homeless.

Nine of us gathered to fill gift packs for some of the homeless in the Jackson and Lakewood area. The boxes included feminine hygiene products, soap, shampoo, disposable razors, hats & gloves color coordinated thanks to Carol, powder, socks, scarves, combs, tooth brushes and tooth paste, a McDonald's gift card and several other items. I know each pack had to be worth more than $30 each and we packed 32 of them: 12 for women and 20 for men.  We'll get them to Steve Brigham for delivery before Dec. 21st, the longest night of the year. It is also National Homelessness Awareness Night.

Thank you to our members Mrs. Johnson, Carol, Pam, President Fran, Lou & Claire Tarantino, our newest members Cheryl & Colleen, and yours truly. And thanks to Immediate Past President Bernadette for the items she donated.

We had a great time donating the items and then packing them at Carol's home. Lot's of fun.

"This was lots more fun than Christmas shopping," said Cheryl. And she's already planning on how we can improve this for next year. But then again, it would be even better if we didn't have homelessness in the world. Something to pray for. Something to be thankful for.

Best wishes to all for a great holiday season!

Larry

Thanks again pups!

2015 Breakfast with Santa

Welcome to the Christmas season!
The Kiwanis Club of Jackson held its annual Breakfast with Santa today, Jan. 13.
A great success! Santa! Pancakes & eggs.  AND COFFEE!
We had 14 members help out. Thanks to Fran & Fran, Laura & Laura, Lois, Carol, Pan, Colleen, Lou, Cheryl, Bernadette, Ralph, and Paul. And thanks to the Key Clubs from Liberty and Memorial high schools.
We must have had close to 200 people attend.
Santa's helpers distributed gifts. We provided photos to the kids who posed with Santa. And speaking of Santa, he made a lot of tall promises.
Thanks Santa & Mrs. Claus. And thanks Bob Galatelo.

Project to help the homeless

I a week and a half, Sunday Dec. 20, we have the longest night of the year. Lately it's become known as a night of rememberance of the homeless. With that night and the holidays in mind, why not put together a couple of "care" packages for the homeless. It doesn't have to be a large box. Maybe something like the size of a shoe box. And what to stuff it with? How about items like a toothbrush? Or a small tube of toothpaste, or a comb, soap, small tube of shampoo, or a few disposable razors, shaving cream. For women some feminine hygiene products? Why not add a $5 McDonald's gift card, or a couple of gift cards for cups of hot drinks at a local convenience shop? A pair or two of socks! Or mittens. Other ideas for gifts? Are there homeless kids in your neighborhood? Don't know where the homeless are? Drop the packages at a police station, they'll know who to deliver it to.
Continued blessings on you and your. And thank you, from the homeless.

Steve Brigham says he's in contact with 25 homeless people, 5 of them women.

Want to help out? Send me an email and let me know how many packages you'd like to make up and whether it will be for a male or female.
(Larrym52@aol.com)

2015 KCOJ Community Dinner at OCL's the Lakewood branch

 

For five of the past six years the Kiwanis Club of Jackson has sponsored a community dinner at Ocean County Library's Lakewood branch. I wanted to share some of the reactions from Wednesday’s dinner.

"What a great success!  Nights like that remind us why we do this and why it is great to be part of the Kiwanis Club of Jackson. Our guest were wonderful and very thankful.   Special thanks to our two key clubs who came out in force and made the night special.  We look forward to working with our two great Key Clubs throughout the year.  Too many people to thank personally in this email, many who were there and some who worked behind the scene, but that is a good problem to have!   Maybe we can do a dinner in the spring as well?

Great job everyone" Fran
 

I wrote the following to Cathi Sheridan, Ocean County Library’s Lakewood branch manager: "I wanted to say thank you from the Kiwanis Club of Jackson for allowing us to hold our annual community dinner at the Lakewood branch last night.  10 of our member and 21 students from the youth programs we sponsor were able to feed 147 men, women and children (the youngest this year was four-years old) a warm meal. I don’t know who received more from the dinner, the people we served or us who are privileged to help out."

Larry

Cathi replied: "Thanks for continuing to have your Community Dinners in Lakewood.  Please forward my gratitude to the Kiwanis Club of Jackson as well.   Community members starting asking if you all were hosting the dinner again this year weeks ago.  They really look forward to it."

 

Thank you for all who helped out and donated items for the dinner: Fran  & Ed, Fran Diane, Lou & Claire, Bernadette, Ralph, Robin & Mateo, Dan, Colleen, Pam, Glenn, Matt, & Larry.  11 Key Clubber from Memorial and 9 from Liberty, and 1 member from the Goetz Builders Club were a great help!

And a big thanks to Jo & George. Their turkey soup will once again be the talk of the town this year. What a great soup! It was so popular.

And like ever year we seem to have just enough. It was a blessing for us to help out.

 

 

 

Holmanville Cemetery cleanup

Seven club members and three students helped us cleanup the Holmanville Cemetery on Veterans Highway Halloween morning. Grass mowing. Leaf raking. A total of about 30 service hours.

Nice weather. A good insight into Jackson history. And you have to enjoy working with friends to help out in the community.

Thanks to Fran, Carol, Pam, Glenn, Lou, our newest member Matt. And I was there, too. We also had both of Pam's children (Fred & Laurel) and their friend Nina.

 

Local shelter needs update: 11/1

• List of shelters in Ocean County and what they need ):


1) Pine Belt Arena (TR North) needs pet beds, dog and cat food (they're the only pet friendly one in our county), pee pads, water, non perishables, soap, toiletries (depends, diapers, shower supplies, and feminine products), toys and games, and sleeping bags.

2) Brackman Middle School (Barnegat) needs water, non perishables, kids games, soap, deodorant and sleeping bags.

3) TR East wasn't answering when she called so i don't know specifically what they need but i have friends who have dropped supplies off and they are desperate for anything they can get, pretty much the same as Toms River North

4) TR intermediate South needs water, non perishables, soap, kids games, pillows, blankets, pet supplies (mostly dogs there, they said only a few cats) and volunteers!

Breakfast with Santa

Great turnout at today's Breakfast with Santa.  A lot of nice members helped out, along with Key Club and Brookdale Circle K members.  Thanks for making this such a great success.

Thanks to event chairperson Carol; to Santa Floyd; to Donna; our cooks Fran, Bob, Paul, Dan, Laura, Glen, and Ralph; and our support staff Pat, MaryJo, Mrs. Johnson, Bernadette, Lois and Angie.  And I got to do the photos.  (If I missed anyone, let me know.)

And thanks to Jo and George from Jackson Helping Hands for joining with us.

Photos can be at http://www.flickr.com/photos/22036136@N07/sets/72157628376606867/ or the slideshow at http://www.flickr.com/photos/22036136@N07/sets/72157628376606867/show/ .