Each May the club’s members vote for local charities to support with monetary donations from their treasury.
On Tuesday, June 12, members of the board for the Mt. Laurel Women’s Club visited three area charities with donation checks, all of which club officials say were received with great appreciation.
President Kathleen Strykowsky, Social Secretary Carol Engel and Membership Chair Carol DeCord first went to the Moorestown Visiting Nurses and Hospice. Vice President Marie Gerace and Treasurer Jackie Whitfield were not available to attend.
Moorestown Visiting Nurses & Hospice sponsor the annual “Camp Firefly” for children who have lost a loved one, parent or sibling.
According to club officials, they know a lot of these children through dealing with families who are in the process of losing a family member in hospice care. Others are referred and submit applications.
The Mt Laurel Women’s Club $500 check will sponsor a child for their program out at YMCA Camp Ockanickon and Camp Matollionequay in Medford at the end of the summer.
The children get to play and swim and interact with other children in similar circumstances and talk to grief counselors. They make drawings representing their loved one, with two copies. One is framed for them to take home and the other is made into a quilt with all of the other children’s drawings. On the last night they are taken to the lake, in small groups of two or three, so that each child can launch a small carton boat with a candle across the lake.
According to club officials, the director of the program was very grateful that the Women’s Club had voted to support their mission.
The women then drove up to Westampton to the new location for Providence House. Club officials say the director of the program was happily surprised when informed that the Women’s Club was donating $300 for their mission of helping local abused women and their children to escape from dangerous situations and find a safe way to rebuild their lives. They even have a “safe house” at an undisclosed location for up to 27 domestic violence survivors and their children, and they maintain a 24-hour hotline for those who need help in this area. They served 2,230 survivors of domestic abuse last year, just from Burlington County.
Tuesday evening, Strykowsky went to the Animal Welfare Association (AWA) in Voorhees with another donation of $300.
Club officials say the foster director was surprised and very grateful.
According to the club, this is the shelter’s busiest time of year with several litters of kittens being dropped off daily. They rely on foster volunteers to care for the kittens until they are at least 2 months and two pounds, but they still get vet checkups every two weeks, and are spayed/neutered by the AWA and receive all of their shops before they are released for adoption, to prevent more shelter kittens.
They also get puppies, dog and cat owner-surrenders, and small animals such as rabbits, hamsters, gerbils, rats, and guinea pigs. They need to feed and provide vet care for all of these animals until they are adopted. They are the oldest and largest no-kill shelter in South Jersey, having been in operation now for 70 years. Last year they facilitated 2,593 adoptions, spayed/neutered 8,081 animals and performed 10,900 vet exams and vaccinations!
According to the club, its $300 donation can help feed pets ($30), spay/neuter ($55), or fund emergency surgeries ($100). They also have a very low-cost spay/neuter clinic, well visits and vaccinations for walk-in clients with pets, and a mobile clinic that goes to low income areas like Camden.
Each year the Mt Laurel Women’s Club chooses monthly charities to support with donations of goods from members, such as food and diapers for area church pantries, baby clothes for Newborns in Need, winter clothes for the homeless and stuffed animals for foster kids through Hand n Heart, shoe collections for the AWA annual fundraiser, Easter baskets for Our Lady Queen of Peace, Christmas baskets for residents at Delaware House, toiletries for Interfaith Hospitality, even prepping 60 fringed blankets for Cozies4Chemo.
Each May the Mt. Laurel Women’s Club members nominate and vote for local charities to support with monetary donations from their treasury. The women feel strongly that their club should be both a social outlet and a force for good in their community.
