For those interested in making donations to Asbury families: I have been working with poor families at Holy Spirit Church over the past year, and have become aware of many families that are in a financially dire situation. Holy Spirit is working with parishioners and others to gather toys for the children. If you are interested in participating in this toy drive, please call the Rectory at 732.775.0030.
I'm writing not for the toy drive, but instead for donations for the most basic needs of these families. If you are interested in getting involved with these families, there are countless options - from making anonymous donations of any amount (see below) to meeting the children and their parents to deliver the donations yourself. The donation would go through Holy Spirit Church (a nonprofit, in order to make the donation tax-deductible for you) and of course, 100% of your donation would go directly to the recipients. Again, if you wanted to meet with them and deliver the donation yourself, I'd love to facilitate that too. Donations that these families could use: 1.) Food - This is the most important item. Gift cards/ gift certificates to Foodtown, Wegmans or another grocery store nearby for any amount is an excellent gift. 2.) Clothing - Most of the children wear second hand clothes or old clothing of varying conditions. I have seen several children wear summer clothing in the winter. Just this weekend on a very cold day, one little girl was wearing flipflops. While second hand clothing is fine, it would be so very nice for these children to be able to go to the mall and pick out something special that they like, which has not been worn in by someone else. One scenario could be a shopping trip with the child(ren) and parent or a gift certificate to a store in the Monmouth Mall. 3.) Education - I am currently looking for sponsors for a little girl who has applied to Sister's Academy on Springwood Avenue. The tuition is $600 for the year, for 4 years (grades 5-8). If you are interested in donating to this cause (pending her acceptance, hopefully soon), please let me know. 4.) Toiletries - Soap, toothpaste, shampoo/conditioner, razors, shaving cream, laundry detergent, and dish soap are all needed items (Costco sells these in bulk, which would be a great way to maximize your donation dollars or gift cards to RiteAid would be greatly appreciated.) 5.) Health care - a gift certificate to RiteAid will go a long way for over-the-counter medicines. My ultimate goal here is to bring together Asbury residents who want to make tax-deductible donations with Asbury residents who need their help. If you would like to meet the family personally, we can set up a meeting place at either Holy Spirit Church (2nd Ave in Asbury), or one of the cafes / restaurants in Asbury (think sharing a cup of hot chocolate and talking for a half hour or so). If you would simply like to make the donation, please contact me (information below) or Holy Spirit Church (732.775.0030). I'd like to include the financial situation for three of our Asbury Park families that I know well: One family of 5 are political refugees from Haiti and are currently living in a home provided by the Church which is slated for redevelopment, at which point they will need an apartment, which they currently cannot afford. The mother was diagnosed with colon cancer during the first week of November, and is struggling to make ends meet. Anything you could provide would be helpful. Another family of 6 has moved three times in the past several years because the house they rented was sold. The mother works in Asbury Park cleaning offices. She doesn't have a car and walks everywhere (given the lack of public transportation in Asbury), and she is literally exhausted every time I see her. She has to pay for a cab in order to do things like grocery shopping, which adds up. She could use any support that you are willing to give. If you are looking for a more substantial tax write-off, she needs a used, reliable car. I hope you don't think I'm asking too much - I just want to put all options on the table for you to then decide your own level of potential commitment. One last family shares an apartment with another family and it is a place that we would think twice about parking our bikes in. The father broke both wrists after falling off of a house during a construction job. He did not / does not have worker's comp. He had surgery, and his one wrist has become infected. He has not been able to work since this happened during the summer. The mother works for a dry cleaning shop but it's not enough to make ends meet. This family epitomizes "down and out". Again, anything you could provide would be helpful. Thank you for your consideration. Please forward this to others that might be interested in helping. Leslie Kretzu 608 Cookman Avenue Asbury Park Ph: 732.988.9985 Cell: 267.456.7453 Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AsburyPark/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AsburyPark/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/