December President’s Message

As we embark on the festive season, I encourage everyone to spread holiday cheer and share love with those around us. Our much-anticipated fun dinner is just around the corner, and I am eager to see each of you there as we celebrate together. Today marks the day after Thanksgiving, a time that prompts personal reflection. I am filled with gratitude for my family, my extended family—including our “outlaws” and grandchildren—and for all the blessings in my life. My heartfelt wish for each of you is happiness, peace, love, and good health.

Supporting Our Community Through Food Banks

Many families are facing hardship this season due to recent layoffs and a delay in SNAP benefits. In New Jersey alone, over 821,000 people rely on SNAP assistance.* I want to extend my appreciation to everyone who brought extra food donations for our local food banks last month. Your generosity truly matters, and it is important to us all that our contributions have a meaningful impact within our community.

Following last month’s efforts, I engaged in several conversations with members about which food banks are most in need of our support and where our collective efforts should be directed. Every viewpoint shared was valued and insightful.

In our local area, there are three primary food programs that I am aware of:

• St. Paul’s Methodist Church
• The Greater Woodbury Cooperative Ministries (GWCM)—of which Colonial Manor is a part and serves as its main food source
• The Dream Center

Like Colonial Manor, St. Paul’s is affiliated with a larger cooperative, The Food Bank of South Jersey. These organizations benefit from grants and major sponsors who provide significant quantities of food.

Despite this support, our donations are still vital. The growing number of families in need means that many food bank shelves are depleted by the week’s end. After listening to many of you and conducting my own research, my perspective on how best we can support these food banks has evolved, and the Board agrees. It is important for each member to have the choice of which food bank receives their donation. When you bring food to meetings, please clearly indicate on your bag where you would like your donation to go. Nancy Barna collects donations for Colonial Manor, while Pixie O’Hara gathers items for the other programs. You are also welcome to donate and drop off items directly. If you do so, please inform Cynthia Holmes-Butler of the number of items and the associated volunteer hours so that we can maintain accurate records for our annual reports.

Committee Chair Reports

This is the season for completing Committee Reports for the NJSFWC. These reports account for your hours, monetary contributions, and in-kind donations from January through December 2025. The project worksheets distributed earlier this year were designed to make compiling your reports straightforward. NJSFWC offered report-writing workshops in October to guide you in what to report and how to document your efforts. These helpful sessions are available on the NJSFWC website under the ‘MATERIALS’ section, and you can easily navigate through the videos to find relevant information.

I distributed all necessary materials in October. Please return your completed reports by January 15th to me either by email at [email protected] or by dropping them off at my home. Jody Harris and I will review the reports, make copies, and ensure they are forwarded to the appropriate state chairs.

Guidelines for Use of the Member List

I would like to remind everyone that our club member list is confidential and is intended solely for club business. It should be used to communicate information about club events and to arrange meetings. Please do not use the list for personal matters, such as sending personal invitations, political messages, sales pitches, or promoting events not related to the club. Whenever Sue Nelson distributes an updated list, she reiterates this important guideline. If you have any questions regarding the appropriate use of the member list, please reach out to me or another board member for clarification. Thank you in advance for your cooperation and understanding.

Janice