Hopatcong Woman's Club

The Hopatcong Woman’s Club members have been busy handling donations to the many charities and organizations it supports. The club encourages the community to support the organization's efforts, such as delivering 75 Veteran’s Day cards to Lyons Healthcare Center.

The cards were handmade by children and written by adults, collected at booths at the Lake Hopatcong Block Party in the springtime and Hopatcong Days in the summer. These, along with Holiday Cards and Valentine’s Day Cards, are always appreciated by the Veteran Community. The next initiative will be a collection of items for Women Veterans to be completed by mid-December.

Members Toby Nelson and Sylvia Pelham are heading up the 2-year effort of the newly-adopted State Program supporting Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of New Jersey.

CASA aims to ensure the well-being of abused and neglected children. The current collection for foster students who have “aged out” of the system and are now in college has been a success and the donated items will be delivered to the Parsippany Public Library on Saturday, Nov. 16 during the NJSFWC Day of Service Project.

Member Betsy Adey heads up the collection of new and used shoes for Soles 4 Souls from October through December. This is a GFWC Initiative national. So far, the Club has collected about 100 pairs of shoes. Members of the community can drop shoes into the bin at the Hopatcong Wellness and Resource Center. Or stop by the club's 10:30 a.m. monthly meetings with these items, and stay for the meeting, if desired.

Domestic Abuse and Sexual Assault Intervention Services (DASI) is another organization the club supports on an ongoing basis with various donations. The next event is a linen shower for the Safe House at our Nov. 20 meeting. All items must be new and include: single sheet sets, single blankets, single comforters or bed spreads, pillows, bath towels, hand towels and wash cloths.

Their year-round food collection total as of November 1st was 2,767 lbs. of food. HWC’s collection bins, located at The Hopatcong Post Office and Hopatcong Borough Hall for non-perishable donations, help the food pantry, handled by West Side Methodist Church. We encourage members of the community to help by bringing donations to these locations in anticipation of the Thanksgiving Holiday (no glass please).

And lastly, our state organization, NJSFWC, has asked us to collect new Dr. Suess books in honor of Dr. Suess’ birthday in 2020. We have collected 33 books so far. Contact Linda Kalata for more information at lmdjabc@optonline.net. Cash donations will be used to purchase books, and all will be identified as Hopatcong Woman’s Club donations to the state level for distribution.

All local women looking to form new friendships and to find a special niche or pet project of interest are encouraged to join us on the third Wednesday of each month at 10:30am from October through April, at our new home The Hopatcong Resource & Wellness Center in the Rite Aid Shopping Center on Hopatchung Road. September and May events may be held at local restaurants where we have guest speakers, so check ahead by calling Member Chairperson Lisa Hirschfeld at 973-479-9228 or e-mail: lisah101@optonline.net.

To learn more about NJ State Federation of Women's Clubs (NJSFWC), visit NJSFWC.org and to learn more about the General Federation of Women's Clubs (GFWC), visit GFWC.org. To learn more about the Hopatcong Chapter, visit HopatcongWC.webs.com.

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